6 Icicle Sukima
by WillieG.R
Summary: After a chain of events, a new and odd kind of sukima is created, though it's unstable and unreliable, but could be someone's salvation.  Does it have anything to do with the odd light-blue haired twins, or this new visitor from elsewhere?
1. Chapter 1

It is a beautiful and windy night in Gensokyo.

The beautiful night sky is riddled with stars that seems to dance their way around the bright full moon.

What makes this night even more beautiful is the very few clouds lazily floating by and glowing sapphire with the light from the moon.

A shooting star silently passes by, and seems to land somewhere in the Youkai Mountain, thus, making this one perfect night to be staying outdoors.

The Misty Lake's water is so peaceful and still, it mirrors the beautiful night sky to perfection.

Flying above the lake, looking at her own reflection on the water's surface, is Remilia Scarlet, the bratty vampire, self-proclaimed Queen of the Night, and mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, which rests on an island that sits at the back of the lake, though doesn't reach the foot of the Youkai Mountain that sits right at the lake's farthest back shore.

Remilia wears a white mop-cap with a red ribbon that's tied to its right. She has short wavy blue hair, red eyes, a pair of black bat wings on her back, and wears a white dress with red borders on the collar and bottom border of her skirt, which reaches down to her ankles, a pair of pink shoes with white socks, and adorns herself with a green oval jewel on her bosom, and wraps an unnecessarily large red ribbon around her waist.

While she flies around the lake, admiring her own reflection with glee, on the small island where her mansion rests, one reckless fairy is about to stir up some trouble.

The Scarlet Devil mansion; or SDM for short; is quite an impressive architecture painted scarlet, which even has a clock tower as part of the mansion itself. Around it, an impressive garden seems to welcome all, filled with flowers, dizzying hedges, and a small gazebo.

Around this garden and the mansion is a large wall with only one entrance gate at the front, where the gate guard, Meiling Hong, the Qi wielding youkai dragon, awaits for her shift to officially end.

She has long scarlet hair, friendly aquamarine eyes, has her long sideburns tied into braids by black ribbons, and wears a green beret with a star that has the word 'dragon', a green vest tied by three golden straps on the front, a white shirt with short sleeves underneath the vest, a long green skirt open at the side, a long pair of white pants underneath, and a pair of black slip-on shoes.

Her Chinese outfit fits her well, as it accents her womanly features quite well, while still covering her up.

She stands to the right of the ornamental black steel bars that make up the gate, impatiently sighs, then says to herself "oh man, why hasn't anyone come get me yet? It's already dinner time."

Her face suddenly turns stern as she looks to her left, raises her guard, and in a serious tone of voice, she asks "who goes there?"

Some bushes from her left side rustle, a twig snaps, and from the dark leaves comes a girl similar to Meiling in physique, though at the same time, different.

Her name is Kimi Hong, the short tempered snake dragon.

She has light-orange hair that reaches just below the top half of her back, her right eye is red and her left eye is black with a red pupil surrounded by what looks like white flames, and wears a green beret with an empty star to its left, an open green vest, a tight and dirty white shirt that shows of her figure quite well, a green skirt ripped at the front, a pair of brown shorts that show off her perfect legs, and a pair of black slip-on shoes.

Meiling groans with annoyance, then asks "it's just Kimi. Can I help you with something?"

Kimi stares coldly at Meiling, and with a voice similar to Meiling's, just colder and unfriendly, Kimi says "relax pretty girl, I'm not here to bug ya or anything. I'm just looking for Kali. Have you seen 'er?"

Meiling lightly shakes her head as her response, so Kimi simply shrugs, then walks away to the right, while saying "odd that I can't pick her up with my eye. Oh well, I'll come pick on you later."

With that, she walks behind a cluster of trees and bushes, and to Meiling's relief, she's out of sight.

The gate guard sighs long, then says to herself "jeez, that girl is trouble. Why won't Reimu seal her already?"

She suddenly yelps and jumps ten feet in the air when from her left, a tiny voice says "miss Meiling, you may come in now."

The voice comes from a tiny blue, messy-haired fairy with translucent wings, and wearing a wine maid's outfit, who looks at the gate guard with great confusion.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, going from the expansive, well-lit, clean, and adorned foyer, with its red carpet with yellow entwining strings on the borders that trails to the two corridors on the left and right, and up the stairs to the next floor; heading through the door between the right side of the stair and the archway to the right corridor; trailing all the way through the dimly-lit basement corridor, passing by the right-side doors to the servants kitchen and bathrooms; reaching the dark-brown twin doors and reaching the library, the librarian magician and her cute little devil are conducting an experiment.

The SDM's library, a wonder of its own, with three floors worth of bookshelves that are filled to the top with books of all kinds, though some shelves have a few gaps on them.

The room itself is quite dark, but even in this darkness, one can clearly see the books, the massive red carpet on the ground floor, the polished second and third floor balconies wooden floors, and the lonely desk at the center of the room, where there are no bookshelves.

In this spacious center, Patchouli Knowledge, the unmoving librarian magician, and Koakuma, the mischievous little devil, are standing in front of a large black cauldron that's filled with a glowing white liquid that almost resembles snow.

Patchouli has long purple hair tied by four pink and light-blue ribbons, two on each sideburn, a pair of unfriendly and tired purple eyes, and wears a pink mop cap with two buns tied to the side and a golden crescent moon on the front, a pink, long-sleeved sleeping robe on top of her vertical white and purple long pajamas, and a pair of comfortable pink shoes.

She places the pink and light blue ribbons all over her robe, as well as one on each shoe.

Koakuma has long red hair, red eyes, a pair of bat wings on her head, larger bat wings on her back, and wears a black dress with white strings on the skirt's lower border, a white long-sleeved blouse underneath, ties a thing red ribbon into a bow around the collar, and wears a pair of black shoes with white socks.

In a soft tone of voice, Patchouli says "if this experiment is a success, I'll be able to make my own, as well as the two mistresses skins completely resistant to the sun."

Koakuma's cheeks turn pink as her eyes blissfully gaze to the ceiling, while she smiles, drools, and says "and finally, miss Patchouli will be able to use that bikini I gave her...", then her nose starts bleeding as she finishes more aggressively "and get a sexy tan on that curvy body of-BLERGH!"

Patchouli has smashed Koakuma to the ground with a large paper fan, and angrily says "you keep that filthy thing away from me!"

Even though she's now bleeding through her mouth because of internal injuries, the perverted little devil smiles blissfully wile imagining Patchouli in a purple two-piece string bikini, and with a healthy tan on her skin.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the lake's shores, Kimi quietly moves around trees and bushes, making absolutely no sound at all.

She reaches the edge of the water and notices how its mirroring the night sky.

She loses her focus on her goal of finding Kali, to focus on the beauty of the lake, and while gasping in admiration several times, the dragon youkai bends her knees and leans her face closer to the water, then sighs with admiration when she sees her own reflection perfectly mirrored on the water.

She places her right hand on the water and gently traces the borderlines of her own reflection with her fingers, smiling as the water slightly ripples, then gasps in surprise when the reflection of a small ice fairy appears to the right of hers.

Kimi jumps away, flips backward in the air, and lands on her feet in a defensive stance, then threateningly says "what the hell's your problem! Get away from me before I eat cha!"

Cirno, the annoying little ice fairy, has short blue hair with a green ribbon tied to the back, bright blue eyes, and wears a blue dress with white jagged-waves on the bottom of the skirt, a white, short-sleeved shirt underneath, and a pair of light-blue boots with tiny white socks.

She raises her tiny right arm above her head, creates a large icicle on it, then points at Kimi, and says "just for that, I will have to teach you why I am the strongest fairy!"

Kimi smiles, raises her right arm over her head and take an offensive stance, then says "oh, this might be quick, but I'm sure to have some fun with you, squishy fairy!"

Cirno clenches her little fists holding tightly to the previously formed icicle, then thrashes her arms and legs around while shouting "I am not squishy fairy! I am CIRNO! My name is Cirno!"

Kimi's response is a large fireball she throws from her hand, hoping to catch the ice fairy off-guard, but Cirno reacts quickly and fires three icicles that fizzle the fireball out.

Kimi suddenly smiles wider while looking at Cirno; through her left eye, everything looks black with silver and white borderlines, living creatures have distinctive colors, which is probably how she finds Kali so quickly.

Cirno's light-blue silhouette has an energy field that starts growing at an alarming rate, making Kimi smile while thinking "her power is growing very SECOND! This is awesome! I get to have some fun tonight!"

Cirno is already using her newfound power to the fullest, firing countless rapid icicles of considerable size at Kimi, and forcing her to move around as though fighting with the air in order to avoid the furious barrage.

Kimi smiles when she sees an opening in the barrage, but doesn't measure the distance of one of the highest icicles, and gets struck on the left foot while flipping sideways.

She yelps and ducks to pull the icicle from her foot, then growl while looking at Cirno.

She ignores the non-stopping barrage, rushes forward, gets close enough to the fairy, then sends a solid forward kick that makes the area around her tremble, and the immediate area of the lake ripple violently.

Cirno avoids a direct hit by flying higher, but the shockwave from the attack has her a bit disoriented, so Kimi takes the chance to grab Cirno by the head, and throws her with all her might toward a nearby tree, knocking said tree with the ice fairy's body.

* * *

At the same time, over at the library, Koakuma has her head wrapped in bandages, but still looks very content while handing one last beaker to Patchouli.

The magician takes a beaker with dark-blue liquid inside from Koakuma's hand, then says "now let's carefully add a drop of this, and the sun block will be a success!"

On their right now stands a blonde girl with her hair tied to a left-side ponytail, red eyes, wearing a white mop cap with a red ribbon tied to the left, a red vest with a yellow neckerchief around the white collar, a short, puffy-sleeved white shirt underneath, a small red skirt that reaches down to her knees, a pair of pink socks with brown shoes, and having on her back the most peculiar set of wings that look like black iron rods with colorful prisms hanging from them.

Flandre Scarlet, the destructive, and still-learning vampire, smiles as she stares at Patchouli, and right when the magician has the beaker turned to carefully pour the single drop, Flandre loudly asks "hey, Patchy! What cha' doing?"

Patchouli shouts "MUKYUUN!" with surprise, her hands flail violently, yet somehow, she manages to save her experiment by pulling the beaker away from the cauldron in time.

The magician breathes hard through her mouth while placing her left hand on her chest, and staring furiously at Flandre, she loudly says "young mistress, please don't do that!"

Flandre smiles and says "I'll do it again.", while looking away from Patchouli and sticking out her tongue from the left corner of her mouth.

Patchouli takes a deep breath, then calmly says "I'm trying to make a special sun block so that we can go outside of the mansion, even during the daytime."

Flandre stares at Patchouli, then at the beaker she's holding over the cauldron, aims her right hand at the beaker, clenches it into a fist with a "kyuun!", and after Patchouli screams "WHY?", and the entire liquid drops on the cauldron, Flandre shrugs and says "just ask Rika to make some special clothes for that. It's better than those icky creams."

Patchouli is still screaming while looking into the cauldron, while Koakuma has the most mischievous and lustful look on her face while thinking about Flandre's statement, but suddenly holds herself tight, shivers, and says "brrr! It's getting very cold!"

Meanwhile, while Cirno and Kimi continue to fight over at the edge of the island, winter spirits start waking up and roaming about as though it's winter, when it's actually still spring.

Kimi flips above Cirno's head and smiles when about to flip-kick the fairy to next week, but her kick misses when Cirno ducks at the last second, making her scream while spinning in mid-air, then the ice fairy surprisingly positions herself to Kimi's left and kicks the youkai on the ribs, sending her skidding on the ground toward the lake, where Kimi plunges in the water, making a loud splash and upsetting the tranquil waters.

Cirno looks on to the rippling lake-water with surprise, then says to herself "wow, I'm getting even stronger!"

From behind her, a woman says "that is impressive, but doesn't explain why the hell I'm awake during SPRING!"

* * *

Cirno gasps excitedly as she turns around, then opens her eyes wide as she exclaims "Letty~!"

A woman with curly lavender hair, lavender eyes, and wearing a white cap, a blue vest with the golden alchemic symbol for silver to the right of her chest, a long-sleeved white shirt underneath that reaches down to her thighs, a blue skirt that reaches down to her knees, and a pair of white socks and white shoes, stands several feet behind Cirno.

Letty Whiterock, the cranky yuki-onna, looks a bit upset and quite tired, and even though she's all dress up, she wants nothing more than to return to her bed to sleep some more.

Sounding annoyed, Letty asks "did you do something to upset the seasons, Cirno?"

The ice fairy scowls, and angrily replies "hey, I've been too busy beating this girl over here for that!"

Cirno turns around to point at the spot in the lake where Kimi fell, but that's when, to her horror, she notices the massive snake-dragon with long whiskers on its snout, large fins on its ears, a yellow right eye, a glowing red left eye, and dark-green scales that look black when struck by light, glaring back at her while breathing smoke.

Kimi's furious voice loudly echoes as she says "I underestimated you, you stupid fairy. Well, not anymore! You're MINE!"

Kimi lunges straight at Cirno, who takes a spell card from under her dress and rapidly shouts "Ice Sign, Icicle Fall!"

Hiding in the darkness between a cluster of trees and bushes, is a blonde woman with long hair tied by two red ribbons at the sideburns, and the rest coiled up under her pink mop cap, which has a long thin ribbon tied at the front, has golden eyes, and wears a long-sleeved pink and purple dress that reaches down to her ankles, a pair of brown ankle-high boots, and has the yin-yang symbol printed on the bottom of the purple portion of her dress.

Yukari Yakumo, the ol-young border youkai, has been watching with interest while Cirno and Kimi fight, and when Cirno uses her Icicle Fall spell card, Yukari giggles and says "let's see what happens when I open **this** boundary over here."

While looking at the fairy, she smiles as she lifts her right hand in the air and wiggle her fingers, obviously playing with some boundaries.

At the very same time, inside the SDM's library Patchouli is desperately trying to undo the mess caused by Flandre, waving her arms around while moving about and desperately shouting "KOA! HURRY AND BRING THE COUNTERAGENT, OR WE'LL HAVE REIMU KICKING OUR BUTTS AGAIN!"

While in front of a large cabinet on the second floor, Koakuma cries out "I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying!"

Confused and unaware of that she has done, Flandre places her finger under her lower lip, then asks "hey, what's with all the hurry and screaming?"

Patchouli grabs Flandre by her shoulders and shouts "THE ICE SPIRITS THINK IT'S WINTER BECAUSE OF THIS! THEY WILL MAKE WINTER, AND REIMU WILL-"

Before she can finish, Patchouli starts coughing violently, tries to calm herself down, walks over to the cauldron, coughs into it, holds her chest, coughs again, stiffens straight, then falls backward on the floor.

Koakuma immediately cries out "and she's out-cold again!"

Over at the lakeshore, Cirno's spell card glows as brightly as the full moon on the sky, the island starts to rumble, arctic winds start blowing left and right around the ice fairy, and sounding scared and confused, Cirno shouts "what's happening?"

Letty covers her eyes with her forearms, trying to look at Cirno by covering herself from the blinding light, even squinting her eyes to try and make something out, then whispers "this is too much power for just one fairy! Oh boy... something strange is going on! I'm getting the heck out of here!"

At the cluster of trees, Yukari giggles while smiling sheepishly, then says "oh dear me, it seems I did something bad. I better get going now. Don't wanna get mixed up in this mess.", then hastily leaves through one of her gaps.

Poor Kimi has been forced back into her human form and lies on the ground in front of Cirno as the cold winds start freezing her legs, and sounding weak and annoyed, she says "dammit, there's no way this fairy is this strong. I-I'm gonna... unh..."

Unable to resist the cold, Kimi lets herself go and falls asleep on the floor, and Cirno is left to deal with the glowing spell card on her own, crying out for help that never comes.

As the light consumes her, the last thing heard that night is an echoing 'vwoosh', followed by Cirno's screams of terror as she flies away from the island.

* * *

It's a beautiful spring morning at the Hakurei Shrine, which rests on top of a tall mountain located as the eastern border of Gensokyo, and from there, the shrine maiden of paradise, Reimu Hakurei, can keep watch of the beautiful land, and that side of the barrier that separates Gensokyo from the outside world.

The first thing to greet a guest after the long, long stairs to the top is a large and worn red gate with charms hanging from sacred rope nearing its top.

To the left of the gate; from the point of view of the shrine itself; is the small, blue roofed extension of the Moriya Shrine, another shrine that rests on top of the Youkai Mountain.

Following the stone walkway from the gate, one reaches the main shrine, which has a blue roof, like all the other buildings in the shrine grounds, and the almost-empty donation box set on the porch in front of a few small steps.

The donation box itself is adorned by a newly-placed yin-yang symbol, which Reimu herself cannot explain how it got there.

In fact, the appearance of that symbol is a mystery, even to those who witnessed the moment it was placed there.

To the left of the main shrine is the hot springs caused by one overpowered birdbrain some time ago, though Reimu is quite happy that it's there.

To the right of the main building, the stone path continues its way, passing in front of the living building, where Reimu and Rika's living room, kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping rooms, are located.

Further through the stone path is the expansive patch of dirt where Rika Onkamikami, and on very rare occasions, Reimu herself, use to train their martial arts, skills and danmaku; their bullet hell spells.

The stone path itself surrounds the large patch of ground where wooden dummies are firmly set in place.

Further back is the storage house, where they keep their food supplies, as well as other things, like gifts or ornaments, and is also where Mima, the supposedly evil spirit, sleeps, if she's in the mood for that sort of thing.

To the left of the storage room is Rika's greenhouse, which is filled with flowers, fruits, and medicinal plants.

It was recently constructed by Tenshi Hinanai, the annoyingly bored celestial, after Rika bested her in battle some time ago.

Further back is a small lake, where Genjii, the flying turtle that was captured and worked hard by Reimu, at least until she learned to fly on her own, lives his days in peace.

The shrine itself is surrounded by foliage, and by now, since spring is about to end, most of the flowers have withered and died, but the few that remain strong give the shrine a sense of peace, even though it's an imaginary peace.

From inside the living building, footsteps can be heard as the shrine maiden of paradise, her loyal shrine maid, and the shrine's own little deity, prepare for what will be a long day, even though they don't really have a clue as to how long it's going to really be.

* * *

Inside the shrine's living house, there is a small, brand new oval table set next to the left-side sliding doors, which are currently closed.

At the front of the room, there is a brown cabinet with various drawers set to the left of a green scroll with ancient writing that hangs on the wall, and to the right of the cabinet is the main entrance, where Reimu and Rika's brown shoes are neatly placed next to the tatami flooring.

On the right side of this surprisingly expansive living room is the doorway to the rooms corridor, where the bathroom is set on the farthest front end, and next to it is Rika's room.

Reimu's room is set further inside the shrine, slightly in front of the corridor's entrance, and between the two sleeping rooms, are the toilet room, and the broom closet.

Next to the living room, taking most of the back-side of the living house, is the kitchen, with an old, but functional stove set on the right-side walls, and between it are a pair of counters, the one closest to the back being smaller, and underneath and above the counters, there are various cabinets, though most are empty.

There is a second counter that separates the kitchen from the living room, leaving a large gap between the right-side counters for easy access to the kitchen, and it takes a turn on the left-side walls of the shrine, making it look like its own island, in a sense, with its own set of cabinets below the countertops.

Almost reaching the closed sliding back doors is the sink on the right wall, and it's currently full of breakfast dishes.

At the living room, sitting to the right side of the table, right next to the sliding doors, is Reimu Hakurei, the lazy border and paradise guardian.

She has long black hair with a large red bow tied on the back of her head, and has two red tubes tying her sideburns, and has brown eyes.

She wears a sleeveless red vest and sleeveless white shirt underneath, with a blue neckerchief around the collar, a long red skirt that reaches to her calves, white socks, and a pair of detached white sleeves on her arms.

Over at the kitchen is Rika Onkamikami, the loyal-to-a-fault shrine maid, who is currently taking care of the dishes, cleaning them quietly and looking at the wall, as though lost in thought.

She has long wavy brown hair that reaches her lower back, sky-blue eyes, and wears a white kimono-like shirt, a long red skirt that reaches down to her ankles, a large ribbon around her torso she ties to the front, which also enhances her womanly figure, a pair of small white angel wings on her back, a pair of pastel-light-blue socks, and has a black necklace with a sapphire yin-yang around her neck.

Normally, she would wear her old red ribbon with the flame tips around her neck as a scarf, but recent events prevent her from consciously wearing said scarf, especially since the scarf has the kanji symbols for "The Will of Fire", divided between the two ends of said ornament.

On a perch that hangs from the roof, just above the door to the rooms corridor, is Suzaku the Bird of Vermilion.

She has red feathers covering her body, bright red wings that have white waves underneath, a pair of white eyes that seem to glow on their own, and a rather sharp beak.

She can speak to whomever she wishes to through telepathy, but mainly addresses either her master, Rika, or her mistress Reimu, whom she calls mom.

* * *

Reimu stares straight at Rika, whom remains unaware of her mistress attention as she gazes to the wall, quietly cleaning the dishes, and doing so quite well, considering her concentration is elsewhere.

Reimu turns her attention to Suzaku on the perch, then whispers "pst. Hey. Suzu-chan.", and signals with a hand gesture for the bird to get closer.

Suzaku flies to the table, lands in front of Reimu, then asks "what is it, mom?"

Reimu whispers "do you know what's wrong with Rika?"

Suzaku nods, and sounding sad, she says "it's those memories. Even though she denies it, they are still affecting her. And what's worst, she thinks she's being a burden to you."

Reimu sighs, rubs her forehead, then says "jeez, it's been two weeks already. I can't take this anymore. I think I'll-"

Before she can finish her outspoken thoughts, Reimu is disturbed by the annoyingly loud thud in front of the shrine, which alerts the maiden of the presence of one very annoying guest, and right on cue, the guest's annoying and loud voice vibrates through the shrine as she shouts "Rikaaa! And that shrine maiden girl! I'm heeree!"

In front of the shrine is a girl with long blue hair, dark red eyes, wearing a black hat with peaches seemingly clipped on the sides of said hat, a pink, short-puffy-sleeved shirt that reaches down to her thighs, with a black band on the center and a red ribbon tied around her collar, colorful frills around the border of the shirt, a long blue skirt, a sky blue ribbon she uses to tie around her waist, and brown cross-laced knee-high boots.

Tenshi Hinanai, the annoyingly bored celestial, carries a small brown sack over her right shoulder, probably more peaches, and looks quite happy as she readies herself to barge inside the shrine, as she usually does.

Reimu beats Tenshi to the front sliding door, slams it open, and sounding slightly annoyed, she asks "Tenshi, hello! When are you leaving?"

A vein pulsates on the left corner of the celestial's forehead as she fakes a smile, scowls hard, and says "oh, what a lovely reception from the rude shrine maiden that scares the unprocessed crap out of a horde of demons!"

Before Reimu has the chance to reply to that, Rika, all the way from the kitchen sink, says in an unconvincing _happy_ tone "Momoko, good morning! I'll be with you in a moment!"

Reimu notices when Tenshi blushes after Rika calls her "Momoko", then smiles mischievously and whispers "oh, that's right. Your name is Momoko~! What an adorable little nickname for you."

Tenshi twitches when Reimu calls her by that name, feels like she's ready to vomit, then angrily whispers "such sweet name spoken through the mouth of a demon loses its charm, and makes me wanna hurl."

Reimu presses her forehead against Tenshi's, and through gritted teeth, she says "well, at least it's not from the mouth of some celestial with poor hygiene!"

Tenshi drops the sack with peaches, allowing some to roll out on the ground, grabs a black stick form her pocket, which almost immediately turns to a bade of flames, then says "you just crossed the line, red and white!"

Reimu smiles dangerously as she slowly closes the shrine's door, and from inside, both Rika and Suzaku open their eyes wide when the rapid sound of fists-on-flesh, explosions, and violent rumbles fill the supposedly-peaceful shrine.

Suzaku flies to Rika's right shoulder, the sounds suddenly stop, then she and Rika look at each other, and the shrine maid quickly heads toward the door.

The moment she opens said door, the shrine maid gasps, along with her familiar, and shikigami's squawk of surprise, then says "my lady! Tenshi! What a mess!", while staring down at the peaches on the ground, the beaten-up celestial that lies in a daze on the stone floor, and at the tatter-clothed shrine maiden that sits victoriously on said celestial's stomach.

* * *

Moments later, back inside the shrine, Reimu and Tenshi have changed clothes, and are sitting beside each other at the right side of the table.

Tenshi smiles brightly as she stares at Rika, and says "always have an extra set of clothing in case of emergencies! Ha-ha-ha-haa!"

Reimu sips on her mug of tea and casually says "pipe down already."

Rika, lets out an unconvincing giggle, stands awkwardly silent next to the kitchen counter, then suddenly turns around and says "better finish cleaning the kitchen now."

Tenshi's face turns a bit pale, then leans closer to Reimu, and asks "say, was it just me, or is Rika still acting... strange?"

Before Reimu answers, the left doors slide open, and on the porch stand two of Reimu's friends, Aya Shameimaru, the skilled bird's eye, and Sakuya Izayoi, the perfectly elegant maid.

Aya has long black hair, red eyes, pointy ears, and wears a white shirt with a yellow band with brown leaves to the left side, matching her shirt's collar, a small black tie around said collar, an orange band around her left arm that read "collecting material", a black skirt that covers down to her knees, which has a yellow with brown leaves band to the right of it, and a pair of white socks and red shoes that have a single tall platform in the center of the sole.

Sakuya has short silver hair that reaches to her shoulders, ties her sideburns into braids with small green ribbons, has dark-blue eyes, and wears a white headdress on her head, a blue vest over a white, short-sleeved shirt, a pair of white wrist cuffs, a dark blue skirt that reaches down to her knees, a large apron over said skirt, a pair of pink socks, and well-polished black shoes.

Sakuya looks furious while holding the eager crow tengu down with a head-lock, while angrily saying "you are keeping your nose out of there, if you know what's good for you!"

Even though she's being strangled, Aya smiles as she replies "but it's just such an amazing incident! It's my duty as a reporter to investigate!"

Tenshi chuckles while pointing at the girls, while Reimu sighs and looks dreadfully annoyed at the girls and asks "great, what's this about an incident?"

Sakuya pulls on Aya's head, then the crow that usually hangs around Aya comes and starts pecking Sakuya on the head, while the maid says "there's been an incident at the mansion, and the mistress through prudent to tell you before THIS annoying tengu started spreading lies on her paper."

Aya quickly frowns and replies "hey! I only write the truth!", while Suzaku flies from inside the shrine and chases after Aya's crow buddy, scaring it away from Sakuya.

Reimu face palms and groans, then springs up on her feet and angrily says "fine, I'll take a look at this now. It's not like you'll leave me in peace if I stay here."

Sakuya and Aya now wrestle on the porch, and still having the upper hand and sitting on top of Aya's stomach, Sakuya smiles at Reimu and says "not a chance. So let's get going already. My mistress awaits."

Aya grabs Sakuya's face, then shouts "hey, what do you think this is? Get off me, you sick maid!"

Ignoring the fighting girls, Reimu lazily makes her way to the cabinet, takes some charms, amulets and her gohei with her, then turns around to look at the kitchen and loudly says "Rika, I'm going to take a look into this. Please watch over the shrine for me!"

From the kitchen, Rika bows to her mistress and says "as you wish, miss Reimu!", looking a bit more natural when doing so.

Reimu smiles when she sees Rika acting so natural, and feeling more at ease about her maid, she heads outside through the main door, completely ignoring Sakuya's screams of pain, while Aya sits on the maid's back and pulls her legs backward as far as she can.

Reimu takes off to the sky, looking as though she's being carried by the wind, then Sakuya stops screaming, Aya turns around and stops stretching the maid's legs, the two girls look at each other, and just like that, both take to the skies, arguing while trying to catch up to Reimu.

Tenshi rests her left elbow on the table, rests her head on her hand, and watches as the three girls leave.

She takes a sip from her tea mug, looks inside of it, then raises it in the air, asking "Rika, could you be a bud and fill me up again?"

From the kitchen, Rika replies "one refill equals one donation."

Tenshi twitches, and now finds herself in front of the donation box, dropping a single coin in it, ignoring how Suzaku and Aya's crow friend fly with speed, with Suzaku pecking the crow's head, and the crow cawing desperately.

* * *

Reimu, Sakuya and Aya reach the island relatively quickly, and the very first thing Reimu notices when she gets there, is Letty, banging hard on the mansion's front door, with a tired and furious look on her face, as well as various winter fairies roaming around the garden.

Second thing she notices, is Meiling asleep in front of the gate, blowing a large nose-bubble from her left nostril.

Sakuya sighs, then says "as you may have noticed already, the winter spirits are restless because of one of miss Patchouli's failed experiments. We were hoping you could-"

While Sakuya speaks, Reimu looks with great interest at a cluster of trees at the left side of the island near the lake's shores, then flies down toward said cluster of trees, making Sakuya feel annoyed that she's been ignored.

Before Aya or Sakuya can ask Reimu what she is doing, the shrine maiden calls "Sakuya! Aya! come with me for a moment. You're both going to like this."

Immediately after landing, and without waiting for the other girls to land, Reimu places four lilac amulets that seem to stick in mid-air in the imaginary shape of a door, then she places a fifth yellow amulet on the tip of her gohei, then thrusts it in the very center of the other four amulets.

Right after Sakuya and Aya land, Yukari appears from a rift that was force-opened by Reimu, holding on to her butt with both hands while crying waterfall tears, and screaming one long and loud curse.

Both Sakuya and Aya gasp in unison, then, while Aya starts taking pictures, Sakuya exclaims "so the old gap youkai was here!"

Yukari jumps on her feet, angrily exclaiming "I'm not old!", but her face quickly turns to horror-movie terror face when she sees Reimu standing close to her left, smiling **too** happily.

Reimu has already sealed Yukari's power, so her attempts to escape are null and void, and what's worst, Reimu has already placed her right hand on Yukari's left shoulder.

Still smiling so angelically while holding to Yukari's shoulder, Reimu asks "now before I kill you right here and now, tell me, why are there so many boundaries bent out of shape around here?"

Yukari's face turns blue, and yet, she manages to chuckle nervously and smile while saying "now, I was just testing the ice fairy's limit. Opened a few boundaries that limited her raw power, messed with a few barriers in her head... nothing too great."

By now, Yukari is feeling confident, and calmly says "of course, I never thought doing that would cause an ice rift to open up and cause that much trouble, but..."

Realizing she's said too much, Yukari looks terrified at Reimu and says "uh-oh", and the last thing she sees is Reimu's fist going straight to her face.

Aya drools and smiles as she takes various pictures of Yukari being punched, and falling on her back on the ground, while Sakuya face palms and says "so, she's the one that caused all of this."

Reimu shakes her head and says "no, but she did help cause a more trouble than needed. The way the energy is swirling around here; I could say we are lucky this island is still in one piece."

Aya suddenly oohs and takes a picture, and Reimu and Sakuya gasp in surprise when the five trees of the cluster start disappearing.

Reimu and Sakuya raise their defenses, in case anything happens, and right after the trees completely disappear, two voices are heard coming from behind one of the real trees.

One is of a frightened boy, the other of a surprised girl.

Both Reimu and Sakuya get closer to the few trees, stepping on Yukari's unconscious self, while following the whimpering of these two children, and when they get too close, the girl angrily shouts "get back! I will not allow you to hurt me or my brother!"

Reimu and Sakuya stop, then the maiden softly says "we're not going to hurt you, little children. We're here to help."

Reimu gets closer, and can see two pair of knees under a thick bush, then hears the boy whispering "sis, I think she is telling the truth. She sounds kind."

The girl quickly replies "but what if you get bitten again?"

The boy replies "I won't. You'll see. Her voice rings differently."

Reimu silently waits for the children to reveal themselves, then opens her eyes wide after the bushes rustle, and a pair of steps get closer to the maiden.

In front of her are two youngsters, roughly between the ages of fourteen or fifteen, with light-blue hair, ice-blue eyes, pale skin, and wearing pastel-lilac coats, light brown slip-on shoes, and the girl has a pastel-red skirt that reaches down to her ankles, and the boy wears pastel-red shorts.

The girl's hair looks silky-soft, and reaches down to her waist, while the boy's is short and curly, yet looks soft to the touch as well.

Reimu gasps when she notices the bloody stain on the broken left sleeve of the boy's coat, then asks "who are you? And what in the world happened to you?"

* * *

The SDM's dining room; an overly expansive room with three windows on the right-side wall, which is the front of the mansion, that are currently covered by blood-red curtains with golden ropes and lower borders.

Near said wall is the large, long rectangular table that can easily fit at least thirty people at once, adorned by a red mantle on its scarlet tabletop, and three glass pots with lilies in them.

To the left of the room is the door that leads to the kitchen and the large pantry, which is currently locked with padlocks and chains, since a dark and a shadow youkai, friends of Flandre Scarlet, have taken a liking to the food stored down there.

On the farthest right-end of the table, the two youngsters eat as though for the first time, while from the left side of the table, Remilia, Aya and Sakuya observe them, though Remilia looks more curious than anything.

From the right side of the table, Reimu stares seriously at them, places her left hand on the tabletop, then says "look, I need to take you back to your homes, but if you won't even give me your names, I cannot help you."

The little boy, who is now wearing a small, sleeveless pink shirt while his coat is being repaired, stops eating, wipes his mouth with a napkin, then looks at Reimu.

He stares shyly at the red and white one, blushing a little and lowering his head, then says "you have cared for us, so I guess we can trust you."

The boy looks at the girl, whom nods and continues eating away, then says "my name is Leon of Kori, and this is my twin sister, Lina of Kori. I'm... afraid that is all we can remember."

The girl stops eating, pushes her plate away, ignores the trickling brown sauce under her lip, then says "all we remember is waking up near that cluster of trees, and having this girl with white hair try to eat us. Even with me defending brother, she still managed to bite off his elbow."

Reimu stares at the boy's elbow, but there's absolutely no signs of it being torn, or even wounded, yet the coat was full of blood, and the tear on it is also enough proof that what they are saying is true.

Remilia and Reimu exchange estranged glances, then Remilia asks "but if what you say is true, then why is his arm intact?"

Leon sniffles, and almost crying, says "we don't understand that either. It hurt, and it made me cry, but then it started glowing blue, and the pain went away."

Lina looks dearly at Reimu, then continues "and just like that, his arm was all better. We decided to hide after that woman with orange hair scared away the white haired one, and then... you came and saved us."

While Aya takes pictures and Sakuya stares at the guests curiously, Reimu and Remilia stare at each other, nod, as though agreeing on some unsaid words, then from right behind Reimu, Yukari says "well, you figured them out already. I am impressed!"

Reimu turns around after one annoyed sigh, then stares daggers at Yukari, whom has the lower half of her body inside one of her usual dark-purple gaps with every-watching eyeballs floating by.

Reimu grabs Yukari by her neck, then angrily says "you made this, you fix this, NOW!"

Yukari chuckles, opens her fan on her right hand, covers her mouth with it, then says "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about."

Sounding very friendly, and smiling equally friendly, Reimu asks "would you like another gohei to the butt?"

Yukari sweats, chuckles nervously, then says "but I didn't really do this, I swear."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine's training grounds, Rika stands with her knees slightly bent while in front of a wooden dummy, and now has added a brown belt around her waist that has her family sword sheathed to her left side, and a dark-hilted sword sheathed on the back of the belt.

Meanwhile, Tenshi lounges at the shrine's back-side porch while watching Rika train, even though the shrine maid has politely asked celestial many times to do something else besides watch her train.

In truth, Rika feels very uncomfortable with Tenshi watching over her at the moment, and wants nothing more than for the celestial to leave.

Luck is on Rika's side, and Suzaku flies down to Tenshi, they seem to exchange a few words, Tenshi obviously failing at telepathy, but still inaudible to Rika, and just like that, the celestial gets up, Suzaku flies on to her shoulder, then waves at Rika and says "I'm going to the spring! Call if you need anything!"

Rika smiles back and nods, and quietly watches as her old friend leaves with her familiar and shikigami to the hot springs.

When Tenshi and Suzaku are out of sight, Rika places her right hand on her chest, flaps her wings, sighs with great relief, then says to herself "good, she's gone. Now I can focus."

With that, Rika resumes her position, holds her family sword, keeps it sheathed, and in a sudden burst, she jumps toward the dummy and starts kicking it as hard and repeatedly as she can before falling back to the ground.

Before starting her second assault, she thinks "good. Now I need to focus energy into the sword and..."

Once again, she jumps high in the air and starts kicking the dummy, this time using the dummy itself as a support to keep herself in the air longer, kicks the head, the upper torso, the lower torso, lands, then backs away.

Her sheath is now glowing light green, the sword is ready.

Rika quickly moves toward the dummy, tightens the grip on her sword's hilt, then stops, and using the momentum, she unsheathes the sword with the green wind energy bursting furiously along with the blade, then Rika screams as her sword cuts halfway through the lower portion of the dummy, then she releases her sword, grabs hold of her right wrist, and scrunches her face up in pain.

The palm of her hand is bleeding, her fingers look bruised, and even her wrist has some signs of strain.

The shrine maid breathes through her mouth to prevent herself from screaming out loud, a tear escapes her right eye, then she whimpers "dammit! I-I'm going to have to bandage it!"

She waits for a minute for the throbbing pain to subside, takes deep breaths through her mouth, and when she's finally able to get up, sounding infinitely disappointed, she says to herself "now my lady will get worried. Rika, you fool, you should have been more careful! Jeez, and after all this time too, now I hurt myself."

Rika finally notices the damage she caused to the dummy; not only is her sword halfway through it, the burst of wind energy consumed a large chunk of the dummy's side, where the sword impacted.

She sighs, and sounding a bit more relieved, the says to herself "phew, seems I can use Battoujutsu, but my hands..."

She grabs her sword with her right hand, but quickly retracts it with a yelp, and after holding her hand against her chest for at least twenty seconds, she sighs and grabs the sword with her left hand, stumbles backward after pulling it out, then places it in its sheath with some slight effort.

She raises her right hand to take a good look at it, then says to herself "maybe I should just stick to what I know. That way, I won't have to worry miss Reimu so much.", then lowers her head while losing herself in her thoughts.

Unknown to Rika, Tenshi and Suzaku are hiding behind some foliage on the left-side corner of the shrine, and have watched everything that happened.

Tenshi looks away toward the front of the shrine, drops on her seat, placing her back against the bushes she and Suzaku are hiding behind, then says "her human half dominates the most after all. Dammit, if she'd only ask for help! Suzaku, what the hell is her problem?"

Suzaku pecks Tenshi's forehead, then says "her '_problem_', as you so kindly call it, is that she doesn't want to burden those she loves."

Tenshi rubs the pecked spot on her forehead, and sounding quite calm, she says "I see. Ugh, that's just like her, always thinking of others before herself. Jeez, what an incorrigible girl!"

Suzaku stares at Tenshi and says "hey, you sounded just like mom for a moment."

Tenshi ignores Suzaku's remark, then says "say... maybe there's a way we can help, without letting her know it."

The red bird of vermilion stares curiously at the celestial's confident smiling face, wondering what sort of plan she's cooking up.

* * *

Back at the SDM, Reimu, Yukari, Remilia, and the twins, Lina and Leon of Kori, slowly walk toward the library in the basement, when Remilia suddenly says "now remember, you do not speak unless I say so, got it? Patchouli is already in a lot of trouble as it is, and I won't have her taking any chances to buy her way back to my good side. I want my rage to last a little longer."

The twins quietly nod in assent, making Remilia smile and say a satisfied "good."

Meanwhile, Sakuya walks out of the clock-tower door, holding Aya by the back of her shirt, and sounding calm and elegant, though noticeably irritated, Sakuya says "and if you ever try going through my drawers away, I'm going to cook you for dinner, and I don't CARE how tough crow skin is!"

Aya looks a bit dazed, and her reply is a long moan, though Sakuya is not satisfied with that, so she drops Aya on her face, raises her butt, carefully aims at it, going as far as to squint her eyes while staring, then smiles, runs toward the girl, then kicks her as hard as her human legs will allow it, sending the crow tengu screaming through the air.

When Aya is a good distance away from Sakuya, she shouts "I'll get you for this, you fat, blubbery maid!"

A vein pulsates on Sakuya's forehead as she seemingly calmly grabs a knife from the black strap on her right thigh, then throws it and walks back inside, feeling satisfied after the sound of metal cutting flesh, and Aya's screams of pain.

Sakuya now closes the door behind herself, but something prevents her from completely closing it off, and when she turns to see what happened, thinking it might be Aya again, she gasps with surprise and exclaims "wait, it's you!"

Back inside the mansion, down at the basement, the group has reached Patchouli's library, and oddly enough, it's Remilia who opens the doors, shouting "Patchouli, we're coming in! Come and see what your experiment caused!"

Reimu and Yukari enter the room and casually look around, unimpressed by the walls of books everywhere, but Leon and Lina can't help but gasp in admiration while looking all around the room.

From deep inside the library, they hear the soft voice of Patchouli as she loudly says "Remi, I can't move, remember?"

Remilia angrily shouts "It's REMILIA, 'cuz I'm STILL mad at you!", then smiles mischievously as she says "oh, that's right. I had to punish her for that little blunder. We'll need to go to her."

As they start their walk to the center of the library, Reimu angrily says "the whole mansion feels like hell froze over, you have winter spirits all around your walls, and you dare call this a '_little blunder_'."

Suddenly inside her odd gap again, Yukari chuckles and asks "come on Reimu, where's your sense of humor in all of this?"

Reimu sighs, then says "fine, I'll just yuck it up and let this place become a winter wasteland."

Remilia quickly hugs Reimu's right arm, and while pulling her forward, she uses her cutest 'I'm-sorry' face, then says "but I punished Patchy already. Isn't that enough?"

* * *

When the group arrives to the center of the library, they find Patchouli strapped to a fishing net that dangles spread-open from the ceiling, Koakuma tied upside-down by her ankles from the tallest point of the ceiling, and Flandre tossing wet dolls at the annoyed, purple bean sprout of a magician.

When Flandre sees Remilia, she starts to cry "onee-sama~! My arm is so-hore, this water stiiiiinks, and I am bored! When can I stooooop?"

Remilia sternly replies "you helped cause this mess, so you'll keep throwing those dolls until I am satisfied!"

Flandre lets out a long complaint, but grabs a pink stuffed rabbit from a bucket to her right, squeezes a bit of some yellowish-green liquid from it, then throws it at Patchouli, landing it right between her eyes, making her shudder as the doll slowly slides off her face.

Reimu looks many levels of disgusted at the bucket beside Flandre, then asks "say, Remilia... What's that green stuff in that bucket?"

Remilia laughs manically while raising both arms over her head, lightning and thunder striking loudly, lighting Remilia ominously for a brief moment, then Remilia's voice echoes as she shouts "MY JUST RAGE! MWAHAHAHAHA~!"

Reimu continues staring disgusted, but this time she does so at Remilia herself, then the library suddenly quiets down when Lina asks "Leon, what are you doing now?"

The girls watch with interest as Leon, very, very slowly, flies straight toward Patchouli with a lost look on his face.

Slightly annoyed, Patchouli glares at the boy and angrily asks "and what seems to be the problem, young man?"

The boy continues his slow flight toward Patchouli, stops when he's uncomfortably close to the magician's face, making Patchouli open her eyes wide and try to get away from him.

Leon gently grabs Patchouli's face with both hands and softly says "poor miss Patchouli. But you have to understand, you did something wrong. Still... maybe you learned your lesson?"

Patchouli is in complete shock, her eyes are widely open, her pupils are barely visible, and her lips have stretched all the across her cheeks.

Meanwhile, up on the roof, Koakuma furiously flings around, trying to break the rope tied around her ankles, shouting "hey you! Get AWAY from my Patchouli-sama this INSTANT! Hey, did you hear me, you sick little- eh?"

Before even Reimu realizes it, Koakuma shares Patchouli's same shocked look when Lina flies up to the little devil, and holds her face uncomfortably close to her own.

From the ground, Remilia confusedly asks "say, what's going on here?"

Leon pulls Patchouli's face close to his and give the shocked magician the most passionate kiss she's ever had, and at the same time, Lina does the very same for Koakuma.

Patchouli blushes so hard, her entire face turns intense red, Koakuma is so shocked, even her head-wings stiffen, Flandre blushes and covers her face with her spread-open hands while giggling, Reimu has lost most of her skin color, and doesn't know where to look, Yukari has pulled a pair camcorders from her gap, and drools while smiling and filming the event.

Remilia stands in complete shock, and stares unblinking at Patchouli and Leon, admiring with great interest as Patchouli's face turns redder and redder by the second.

Finally, at the same time, Leon and Lina release their unwilling partners, and Leon, looking straight into Patchouli's eyes, whispers "Patchouli Knowledge, my love.", while Lina loudly says "YES! I got a cute and sexy pet!"

Just like that, the net holding Patchouli breaks, letting the magician fall on her face, long before she can reply, while Koakuma's rope breaks, letting her fall all the way down to the ground level while shouting "I'm not your damned pet, you disgusting perveeeeeert!", and then, there's a loud thud.

* * *

Patchouli manages to lift her head from the floor, and looking shocked, annoyed and embarrassed, she cries out "wha... WHAT THE HELL?"

Reimu recovers herself, chuckles, then elbows Yukari while pointing at Remilia.

The vampire is trembling and twitching violently, her eyes are hidden by an ominous shadow, she clenches her fists, then Flandre concernedly says "o-onee-sama, d-don't be mad now. I-I'm sure... Well, um... that is... It was just a kiss, and...", then her cheeks turn pink while she looks down at the red carpet under her own feet.

Remilia continues to twitch while Koakuma flies to Patchouli and tries to help her up, asking "Patchouli-sama, are you alright? He didn't touch anything, right?"

Patchouli moans, then says "Koa, I've lost so many things at once!"

Remilia Scarlet can't take anymore and starts to laugh hard and loud, while Leon removes the net from Patchouli, and Lina hugs Koakuma from behind, making the little demon yelp and run around, while screaming in horror "get her off! Get her OFF ME NOW!"

Remilia's laughter intensifies, then Patchouli points at Leon after he lands to her left, then says "you have violated me, mister! I'm going to have to-", but slips on the green liquid from one of Flandre's dolls, falls flat on her back, then Leon happily exclaims "alright! Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!"

Patchouli recovers miraculously, jumps off the floor, and shouts "get the hell AWAY FROM ME!", making Remilia hold her stomach while laughing harder still.

Patchouli flies around the immediate area, trying to keep away from Leon, who keeps chasing after her on foot while raising his arms at her, while shouting "don't just stand there laughing! HELP ME ALREADY!", but long before she can get close to the laughing vampire, or her guests, Koakuma appears from the left and crashes against Patchouli, causing the both of them to fall sprawled on the floor with dizzy eyes.

Remilia can't take it and ends up dropping on the floor while laughing hard, shedding waterfall tears and pounding her left fist on the carpet in a failed attempt to calm herself down.

Reimu looks down at Remilia and says "well, she definitely seems greatly satisfied now."

Yukari casually points at Koakuma and Patchouli with her fan, then says "not as satisfied as those two over there. Just look at those happy faces."

Sprawled on the floor with dizzy eyes, red cheeks, and semi-smiling faces, Patchouli and Koakuma moan while Lina and Leon try to help them up, only to fail and fall on top of their respective girls' chests.

Remilia stops laughing for a moment to stare at her friend and servant, then resumes her loud laughter, her banging on the floor with her fist, her crying joyous waterfalls, and now adds violent wing flapping.

Flandre concernedly shouts "Remi-sis, calm down! You're going to end up-", but before finishing her sentence, Remilia's laughter stops, her little spirit flows from her open, drooling mouth, but luckily hangs on to her lips, then Flandre finishes "oh dear. Too late."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hakurei Shrine, Rika has bandaged her right hand, and now is finding it hard to complete the sweeping of the front yard.

She looks at her damaged hand, then sighs and says "great, now I'm having trouble sweeping. Darn it, and when miss Reimu sees this, she'll start to get worried, won't leave me alone, and..."

Rika sighs long and loudly, then says "what a mess, Onkamikami. A whole week going at it, just to mess up right after getting the basics down. Stupid."

Right when she's about to resume her sweeping attempts, Rika can hear Tenshi shouting as though fighting.

Images of the past, of young Tenshi, who was named Chiko at the time, fighting against four bullies at the same time to save Rika from them, flash right in front of the maid's eyes, so she hurries to the back of the shrine, where the celestial's voice comes from.

Reaching the training ground, Rika gasps with surprise when she finds Tenshi training hard with her sword on hand, and wearing a pair of reddish, leather, fingerless gloves while furiously swinging her sword around and chopping the same dummy Rika was using before to bits.

Tenshi notices Rika from the corner of her eyes, stops attacking, calls off her sword, then gestures swiping off sweat from her forehead, and says "phew, that was hard work!"

A little surprised and relieved at the same time, Rika exclaims "Tenshi, what are you doing? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

The celestial grins when turning her face to her long-time friend, then says "sorry, I was just practicing my stronger moves. Seems like I need gloves to pull them off, or I start scraping my hands."

Rika stares suspiciously at Tenshi, wondering if her celestial friend saw her during her failed training attempt, but shakes the thought off and says "g-gloves you say. Um... you know what? That sounds like a very good idea."

Tenshi chuckles, then immediately says "say, maybe you should take my gloves. I promise they will help you with your training too.", then fakes surprise and concern when looking at Rika's bandaged arm, and exclaims "oh dear! Rika, what happened to your hand? A-are you alright?"

The act works, and Rika feels relieved when she believes her friend didn't see that blunder, then realizes Tenshi is waiting for her response, so, after stammering for a moment, Rika finally says "um, j-just a little accident! Um... p-please, keep your gloves. I won't be needing them. I... don't really have hard moves like that to practice on."

Tenshi feels a bit disappointed that her plan seems to be failing, but still smiles as she says "oh... alright then. Um... I guess I better-", and that's when she notices Marisa Kirisame, the ordinary black witch, flying above Rika on her broom, with an annoying smirk on her face.

Marisa has long blond hair that reaches her shoulder-blades, ties her left sideburn into a braid with a white bow, and wears a black witch's hat with a white ribbon tied around it, a black sleeveless vest over a puffy-short-sleeved pink shirt, four large yellow buttons on said vest, a black skirt that reaches her ankles, a white apron with a light-blue "M" sewn on it, a pair of pink socks, and black shoes.

Rika looks up at Marisa, then asks "miss Marisa, good morning! What brings you here so early?"

Marisa looks around, then asks "say, is Reimu here?"

Ignoring Marisa's rudeness, Rika replies "no, she's over at the Scarlet Mansion, taking care of some incident."

Tenshi, on the other hand, takes full notice of Marisa's rudeness and shouts "hey, black and white! Rika said 'good morning' to you! Reply in kind!"

Ignoring Tenshi, Marisa looks to the direction of the Misty Lake, then says "another incident then. Seems Reimu's going to have a busy day today, ze. Two incidents, and it still isn't even midday. Oh well, I'm picking her up. See you later!"

Marisa flies away, while Tenshi shouts "HEY! Come back here and acknowledge Rika's greetings, you brainless blonde!"

Rika chuckles while flapping her left hand in the air, and says "it's alright Momoko. That's just how miss Marisa is. Now, please excuse me while I resume my chores."

Disappointed a second time, Tenshi sounds sadder when she says "alright... Um... call me if you need help, ok."

Rika giggles as her response, then makes her way to the front of the shrine again, calling Suzaku to her via telepathy.

* * *

Back at the SDM's library, everyone has settled down; everyone except Remilia, who is still half-dead and is being carried around by Flandre.

Her body looks paler than usual, her eyes are blank, she continues to drool though her gaping mouth, and her spirit slowly makes its way back inside of her, though the progress is too slow.

Leon and Lina are being kept behind Reimu and Yukari, so that Patchouli can concentrate on what she is doing, which is to mix the counteragent that will undo the magical winter around the mansion and the island.

While she concentrates on mixing exact amounts of chemicals into a large vial, Patchouli says "so, these two... children... appeared in front of the mansion this morning? Well, that's your problem, sukima monster. You're the one pulling humans from the outside at a whim."

A small vein pulsates on Yukari's forehead as she says "don't start pinning your mistakes on me, you second-rate witch. I had everything under control with the ice fairy, until that stupid experiment of yours messed up everything."

Unaware, Reimu has stealthily placed a red charm on Yukari's back, locking up her powers, and the maiden gestures her hand at the twins to keep themselves silent about it, then winks while smiling at them.

Pouring two ingredients into the vial at once, Patchouli calmly says "well, if you hadn't been playing around with that fairy's boundaries like that, that Icicle sukima wouldn't have formed. It was your own foolishness that risked the safety of this island, and Gensokyo's border."

Yukari gulps and looks terrorized at the magician, and noticing this, Patchouli smirks and continues "oh, so you didn't mention that, did you? That sukima could have easily destroyed the barrier, and I'm sure it's safe to bet that the moment things got out of hand, you ran away without making sure everything was safe."

By now, Yukari has realized she can't run away into one of her gaps, and notices the ominous look on Reimu's face as the maiden stares viciously.

Patchouli continues "in a way, if it wasn't for my failed experiment, the sukima would have lost control, and would have eventually consumed the entire barrier, and by now it would be too late to safely close it. Consider yourself lucky."

After pouring one last ingredient into the mix, making it turn blood red, Patchouli misses Yukari's reply, and when she looks toward the girls, she notice Reimu has the gap youkai face-down on the floor with her foot on Yukari's neck, and stretching her right arm as far back as she can, making Yukari wail in agonizing pain.

Patchouli grins, turns toward the large cauldron with the white liquid, which sits in the very same spot as before, but before she can pour in the counteragent, she realizes Leon and Lina aren't with Reimu and Yukari.

Instead, Leon is now standing in front of Patchouli, looking at her with longing eyes and pink cheeks, then says "allow me to help you, miss Knowledge."

Patchouli takes a step back and angrily says "stay away from me, you little creep!", then Koakuma jumps between Patchouli and Leon, extends her arms, then says "you won't touch her again!"

Lina jumps on Koakuma's back and gives her a tight hug, then says "my cute and sexy little pet is such a hard worker!"

Koakuma starts to scream, while tears flow out of her eyes like waterfalls, then runs toward Patchouli, shouting "lady Patchouli, save me!"

Patchouli screams "the counteragent!", Koakuma crashes on the magician again, the vial with the blood-red liquid flies through the air, lands on Remilia's mouth, then the vampire starts drinking it.

Flandre shouts "kyah! Onee-sama, don't drink that stuff!", but it's too late, and she has drunk all its content.

Remilia's spirit returns to the vampire, she flies off Flandre's hands, laughs excitedly while flying like an acrobat around the library, then excitedly shouts "HEY, sexy Patchy's stuff is AWESOME! What is this thing?"

Even though she's in a daze, Patchouli manages to wine "auuu, it's magical blood."

Remilia laughs while flying like a jet-plane in the air, then says "excellent! It's just like Ail's blood, only sweeter!"

Remilia stops so abruptly, she skids and screeches in mid-air, then exclaims "Sakuya! And the green maiden!"

From the library's second floor main balcony, Sakuya says "I'm sorry to interrupt, my lady, but this guests insists on seeing miss Reimu."

* * *

The balcony sits above the bookshelves, and stretches as far as eight feet forward; spacious enough for a beach chair and umbrella.

Sakuya stands right in front of an open secret door behind a small bookshelf, and to her left is Sanae Kochiya, the supposedly-good girl, and shrine maiden of the Moriya Shrine.

She has long green hair that reaches just above her lower back, green eyes, and wears a pastel-light-blue coiling snake clip around a white and blue tube that holds her left-side sideburn, a flog-shaped clip above that, a while vest with blue bands on the center and lower borders, a tight, sleeveless white tank-top underneath said vest, helping improve the sight of her womanly figure, a pair of white detached sleeves with blue bands on both border ends, a long blue skirt that reaches her ankles, light-blue socks, and light-green shoes.

Reimu releases Yukari's arms and legs, after trying hard to bend the border youkai backward, then asks "what did you say Remilia? Sanae's here?"

Sanae jumps from the balcony and flies straight toward Reimu, while scolding her fellow maiden, saying "Hakurei, what is the meaning of this! Kanako-sama went all the way to your shrine, and all she found was a red chicken, and one annoying celestial! Really, a shrine maiden should know bet-URK!"

Having had her morning ruined by this fake-winter incident, Reimu is in no mood to take any shit for anyone, so she grasps Sanae by her neck with her left hand, and with an ominous look on her face, yet a calm tone of voice, Reimu says "unlike you, I don't have others to pamper me around, and unlike you, I have work to do, so please spare me the crap, Sanae."

The green-haired maiden nods nervously, and when Reimu releases her grip, Sanae says "jeez, Reimu, take it easy! Anyway, please help me find Ail and Budou! They're missing."

Reimu sighs, calms herself down, looks out the only window near the area, then says "so he's finally gone into hiding. And he took Budou with him too."

She looks at Sanae with the most casual look, then asks "so what did you do to him this time, to have him run away like that?"

From the balcony's edge, Remilia chuckles and says "she probably tried to seal him in his dog form again."

Like an annoyed child, Sanae shouts "I did not!", then pokes her two index fingers together while pouting and whispering "at least not this time."

Reimu face-palms with her right hand, smacking herself with her own gohei, then says "look, just give it some time and they'll probably come back by dinner. Maybe they are over at your shrine right, at this very moment."

From outside the walls of the mansion, Marisa's voice rings through the walls as she shouts "MASTER SPAAARK!" and a colorful beam breaks a large hole on the wall, letting in some sunlight that doesn't seem to affect Remilia, or Flandre in the least.

Flandre stands right in the center of the sunbeam and says "you see this Patchy? With Rika's special clothes, I can stand in the sun, maybe get a tan, and nothing, I'll be just fine."

Marisa enters through the hole, notices Patchouli being held at the waist by Leon, while he rubs his head on her belly, revealing her large breast size to the others when he bumps his head against them.

Annoyed, Patchouli says "you stupid thing, get OFF ME!", while trying to punch his head, though to him it feels like a pat.

Reimu casually says "oh, those are Leon and Lina of Kori. They appeared on the island last night, and seems they have taken a liking to Patchouli and Koakuma."

Marisa looks around, then finds Koakuma backing away into a corner, glaring towards Lina, who seems to be ready to happily pounce on the unwilling little demon.

Marisa completely ignores Koakuma's pleas for help, holds the front of her hat, then says "oh, I see. Well, it was about time those girls got some love, ze."

The witch quickly descends, lands next to Reimu, then says "well, that's not important. There's this huge thing with massive pincers trying to reach the border, over at the Nameless Hill. I thought of taking care of it myself, but then I thought you and I could go together and kick butts, like old times."

Reimu chuckles, then says "you mean like all times."

Sanae immediately says "I'm coming too! Maybe we'll find Ail along the way!"

Reimu nods, then says "fine then, let's go."

She looks up to Remilia on the balcony, and asks "can you take care of the-"

Remilia places her right hand on her chest, alternates soft kicks in the air, then says "as long as they keep me amused, I'll keep these kids safe. Right Patchy?"

Pushing Leon away from herself, Patchouli angrily says "whatever! Just keep him away from me so that I can make another counteragent!"

Reimu nods after being assured of the twins safety, then she, Marisa and Sanae, fly out of the mansion through Marisa's hole, then Remilia sighs, then says "these kids are a better punishment to them than having Flan throwing my pee on their faces."

From the ground floor, Flandre suddenly shouts "WHAT? Onee-sama, you are DISGUSTING! I'm going to punish you for that!"

Flandre flies over the bookshelves with her large red Lavatein already activated and raised above her head, then Remilia panics, flies into the hidden door, and shouts "wait, Flan, I was just kidding! It's apple juice! APPLE JUICE!"

Flandre follows after Remilia, angrily shouting "you liar! Come back here and take my revenge!"

Remilia screams out loud, then sounds of explosions, and the rumbling of the floor, reach Sakuya, who casually reaches for a square chocolate cookie in her apron, nibbles a piece off the edge, then sighs and says "here we go again."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine's stairs, Rika stands under the red gate with her left leg going down the first step, and looking toward the shrine at Tenshi and Suzaku.

She smiles, then says "I'll come back as soon as I get the materials I need. Suzaku, Tenshi, please take care of the shrine while I return."

Tenshi salutes Rika, and loudly says "do not worry about a thing! And if Reimu asks, I'll tell her I beat you up and forced you to go there."

Rika giggles, then says "I'll be back before she is, so don't worry about that."

Suzaku bows to Rika, then says "remember to tell that Utsuho that I'll be visiting next time, so I hope Petal has learned to speak properly, at least."

Again, Rika giggles, this time a bit more naturally, then says "I sure will. Take care. See you in a little while."

After saying that, two ethereal white wings, twice the size of her normal wings, spring behind Rika's back, and like a flash, she disappears from sight, leaving Tenshi and Suzaku on their own.

Meanwhile, while flying over the Misty lake, away from the Scarlet Mansion island along Reimu and Marisa, Sanae looks curiously behind herself and asks "hey Reimu, why is that yuri-onna banging on the door so furiously?"

Both Reimu and Marisa turn around to look at Sanae with confusion in their eyes, then they look toward the mansion and see the frame of Letty as she bangs furiously on the mansion's front door.

Marisa and Reimu look at each other, then start chortling, Marisa going as far as letting out her loud laughter.

Annoyed, Sanae asks "hey, what's so funny?"

Reimu giggles while saying "no, it's nothing. Pfff. Come on, let's just get going."

Annoyed, Sanae says "hey, I'm just curious about that yuri-onna. I thought they only came out during winter. You don't have to make fun of me like that."

Reimu and Marisa now laugh hard in front of the confused shrine maiden, then Marisa, doing her best to hold her laughter, says "man, if Letty catches you calling her that, she's going to sit on your back for an hour or two, ze."

Angrier, Sanae says "what? I'm just curious about the yuri-", and it finally hits her.

Instead of a yuri-onna, which means 'lesbian woman', Sanae meant to say a yuki-onna, which means 'snow woman.

With a beet-red face, Sanae looks away from the girls, and whispers "um... never mind. I, um.. yeah."

Marisa and Reimu laugh harder, now that they know Sanae figured out what she was doing wrong, but this infuriates the shrine maiden, who shouts "oh, screw you two! I-It's only human to make mistakes!"

Reimu chuckles, then mockingly says "whatever you say, miss incarnate goddess."

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Kimi, Kali, Ail and Budou were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku the bird of Vermilion were created by Snapshot 2011

MAR 17 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**And finally, the first chapter for my 6th part of the Sukima series is finished. Icicle Sukima promises to be a lot more light-hearted than Dear Friend from Sukima, while still keeping the balance in action, drama, and so on, like the other Sukima stories.**

**It took me a while to write because I am still working on the 3rd chapter of the Touhou/Kingdom Hearts crossover (once it's done, I'll be posting it soon), and I also have two more fictions on the works. One would be that random "Tales of the Almost Pirates" fiction, and another... well, it's going to be interesting, and will have no OCs (other than those grunts needed to somehow move the story along).**

**Now, about this chapter. Well, things are moving along quite speedy... right? The twins found where Yukari was hiding are actually a mystery, but at the same time, not so much. At least, Reimu, Remilia and Yukari know something about them. Hmm, maybe I went a bit overboard with Patchouli and Koakuma, but what's done it's done, and the special OC appearances aren't done yet. There's one more OC that need presentation. Hopefully for next chapter? One more thing, before I forget again. Lina's name is pronounced "_Lie-nah_".**

**Note that if you wish to know what happened to the donation box and Rika, read "My Beloved Loving Godmother".**

**On another note, let us all remember to send out well-wishes to Japan, Haiti, and actually, the whole world. With all the stuff going around, a few well-wishes will do us a world of good. Well... I actually wish to do more, but it's all I can do from here. Anyway, take care everyone.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

**This chapter is long, so get some cookies. Also, gameplay Mechanics ahead! You have been warned.  
**

* * *

It is still midday by the time Rika Onkamikami reaches the entrance to the underworld, which looks like a simple, oversized, dark and moist cave with vines clinging to its sides, spooky roots hanging from all around, and has a girl in a bucket dangling at the very middle of the entrance.

Kisume, the shy bucket-girl, has dark-teal hair tied to twin pigtails with white bobbles, has brown eyes, wears what looks like a white robe, and is inside a cherry-brown bucket that hangs from a rope, which hangs somewhere inside the cave.

At least that is what Rika hopes as she looks up at the cave entrance.

Kisume hides half of her face behind her bucket while looking at Rika, then asks "it's Rika. Are you going to come inside?"

Rika twitches, nervously bows, and says "m-miss Kisume. S-sorry for staring like that.", then straightens up and continues "why yes. I need to get a few things, so if it's alright, I'll just-"

Kisume bluntly replies "you can't come in."

A bead of sweat rolls down the back of Rika's head as she looks with confusion at the little youkai, then asks "um, I see. And why not? Is everything alright?"

Kisume starts moving left and right, and in a monotone voice, says "you are getting sleepy. So very sleepy. Your eyes are feeling heavy... You are falling asleep.", then, in a more natural tone, asks "so, are you sleeping yet?"

Rika is confused beyond words, and stares at the tsurube-otoshi as she swings around and tries to, apparently, hypnotize the shrine maid.

From inside the cave, a more mature-sounding girl exclaims "Kisume, stop hypnotizing passersby and making them think they are buckets!"

The little bucket girl stops, slowly sinks into her bucket until only the top of her head is visible, and in a high-pitched tone of voice, she whimpers "eep. I'm sorry. I'll be good.", then, somehow, without even using her hands, pulls herself up the cave's ceiling, and vanishes into the darkness.

Rika continues to stare upward, wondering how Kisume did that, but she suddenly shrugs and shakes her head, then says "no, no. It's best to keep that a secret.", and walks inside the cave.

Inside the ample cave, though it is dark, she can admire the countless giant spider webs coming from the ceiling, hanging just feet over the ground, allowing her passage.

The rocks and boulders seem to have been recently moved to the sides, placed on top of each other in an rather dangerous manner, but seems they can hold in place, at least for a while, and thus, this allows anyone to walk in and out of the cave; walking out of it being the least likely, unless you came prepared for the youkai that live inside.

As Rika walks forward, she calls "miss Yamame, it's me, Rika."

There is no answer, so feeling a bit worried, Rika softly calls "Yamame Kurodani? Hello?"

A woman with blonde hair tied up into a bun with a brown ribbon, brown eyes, and wearing a reddish-brown dress that's puffy around her waist and is wrapped by yellow straps, a black, long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of white socks and black shoes, dives down from the ceiling right above Rika, wraps her arms around the maid, pressing her face against said maid's chest, then exclaims "RIKA~! Welcome!"

Rika twitches violently when she is hugged by Yamame, the surprisingly friendly spider, but manages to calm down, but still nervously say "Ya-Yamame. Y-you s-surprised me."

The youkai lets Rika go, rises up to meet eye-to-eye with Rika, then says "sorry, I didn't know your boobs were so sensitive."

Rika blushes, and bashfully looks away.

* * *

Meanwhile, after following the long trail of knocked out and dead fairies sprawled all over the ground, we find Reimu, Marisa, and Sanae flying above the fields leading toward the Myouren Temple and the Human village.

After blasting a large group of fairies dressed in red and white, Marisa sighs and asks "why do these stupid fairies keep getting in our way?"

Reimu taps Marisa's shoulders, then points to up to the right.

Marisa realizes they are all inside a large rectangular screen, and to the right of it, she can see a grid with their score, which keeps adding up, their lives, which are five, their bombs, which are three, how many bullets they have grazed, which right now remains at seven, how many point tabs they have picked, and though they have about fifty, Marisa hasn't really seen a single one, and finally, their power, which is at a surprising sixty-seven.

Marisa sweats after reading all that, then asks "and how long has that been there, ze? And why haven't you answered my question?"

Sanae giggles, then says "well, seems little miss blonde witch is lost."

Reimu sighs, then quickly says "we're in a '_game_', so keep your eyes peeled. Probably some drunk fairy's joke."

Marisa sweats and smiles nervously, looks up, above the score grid, then says out loud "Normal. I guess I can cope with that."

Suddenly, a girl loudly says "that's as far as you go!"

Reimu, Marisa and Sanae stop their advance to look around, then a girl holding on to a large red honey pot flies in front of them.

She has very short teal hair, blue eyes, a pair of bug-like antennas on her head, and wears a white, long-sleeved shirt, blue baggy pants, a cape that's black on the outside and red on the inside, and a pair of white socks with red shoes.

Reimu stares at the girl for a while, face palms, then asks "I'm sorry, could you please tell me your name, so that I can insult you properly?"

Furious, the girl shouts "it's me, you stupid shrine maiden! Wriggle Nightbug!"

Right after saying that, her name appears written in gradient blue and gold, with the title "honey-munching bug girl" underneath it.

After reading that, Wriggle picks more honey from inside the pot with her right hand, then munches away while angrily saying "great. That's what I get for helping him out. Still, the honey is good."

Sanae takes front and center, and says "I'll take care of this one, you guys."

Marisa smiles and says to herself "thank goodness. I didn't want to blast her, after she helped me last time."

Reimu gets closer to Marisa with a wicked smile on her face, and asks "what was that? Feeling sentimental, or perhaps you forgot your flashlight?"

Marisa grits her teeth, pulls her hat over her face, then says "none of your business, red armpits!"

Wriggle starts shooting danmaku-wrapped bugs all around her, and has them fly straight toward Sanae, though the maiden grazes that easily, and shoots rapid, colorful stars and wind blades back at the bug-girl.

After a quick exchange of bullets, Wriggle licks the honey out of her hand, takes a spell card from her pocket, then says "alright, time for my first spell card! Wriggle Sign, Little Bug Storm!"

Wriggle summons a swarm of flying roaches that spiral above her raised hand, and spread around a very wide area.

They stop spreading close to the bottom, then scatter randomly around Sanae.

The shrine maiden screams as though she's had death creep her hands around her.

Her face has turned blue, her eyes have lost focus, and as soon as she feels one of the roaches' wings graze her left leg, she shrieks, lifts a spell card, and screams "**Snake Sign, Orochi of Ancient Times**!"

The entire rectangular screen becomes the skin of a gigantic brown snake that literally obliterates Wriggle's roach friends, and forcefully cancel her spell.

Burned, annoyed, and hurt by the loss of her friends, Wriggle shouts "wah~! You monster! Look what you did to them! I'm gonna- Eh?"

Now Sanae is flying around with a white spray can that has a black bug under a red slashing circle, and is spraying the remaining roaches to their deaths, while repeating "ew, ew, ew, ew! Gross! Kill them. Kill THEM!"

Wriggle drops her honey pot and rushes over to Sanae, shouting "WAIT! DON'T! They're my friends!", but right when she's going to grab Sanae's left arm, the shrine maiden turns around and sprays Wriggle's face, causing her to violently blow up and fall dead to the ground below.

Reimu and Marisa fly to Sanae's side, helping her calm down, the Reimu looks down and says "wow, you really killed her."

Marisa sighs, then says "well, not gonna blame ya for that, but only this time."

Sanae has tears of fear dangling under her eyes, her entire body is shaking badly, and as she looks at the other girls, she asks "aren't you disgusted by these things?"

Reimu and Marisa shake their heads, then Reimu says "I've seen worst things. Trust me.", then remembers a time when Yukari mooned her via-gap, during a moon-viewing party.

She shudders and clenches her eyes, then says "I scrubbed my eyes for days after that."

Marisa and the still-nervous Sanae stare at Reimu while raising an eyebrow each, wondering what could be so horrible to have Reimu act so disgusted.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the underworld's moist entrance cave, when Rika and Yamame reach the hole that leads straight to the bridge between the surface world, and the Ancient City, Rika waves at the blonde youkai and says "thanks for everything. Take care!"

Yamame happily waves back, then says "no, thank **YOU** for that meal!", then Kisume drop from the ceiling and adds "it was delicious!"

Rika giggles, and bows elegantly at the girls, then drops into the hole, letting herself fall at a rapid pace.

The decent is uneventful, so it doesn't take her long to reach the wooden bridge with red rails, where she slows her decent exactly two feet before crashing on the surprisingly well-kept wooden boards.

Underneath the bridge, one would expect water, but instead, there is a sea of jagged rocks with rather sharp and pointy tips.

Upon landing, Rika looks around and ahead, but finds no signs of the bridge's guardian, Parsee Mizuhashi, the jealous, green-eyed princess, so she shrugs, then walks toward the Ancient City.

As she reaches the end of the bridge, she starts to admire the city lights, which come from the windows of the many stone houses, the restaurants, and the open shops.

She can see the spirits and oni going about their daily lives, giggles at the sight of the many oni holding to either a cup, a gourd, or a bottle of sake, and that's when she realizes to her left, is a short blonde girl with short hair and green eyes, and to her right, a towering blonde woman with long hair, red eyes, and a red horn on her forehead.

The green-eyed girl is Parsee, and she wears Yuugi's white, short-sleeved shirt with red borders, though it looks huge on her, Yuugi's semi-transparent blue skirt, which she has to hold on to so it doesn't fall, and drags around the ground, plus her black panties are barely visible through them, and Yuugi's wooden sandals.

She blushes as she scowls at the staring shrine maid, then angrily asks "wh-what? Do I have something on my face?"

Rika chuckles nervously, lightly shakes her head, then says "no, it's nothing, miss Parsee."

Yuugi Hoshiguma, the happy, drunken, towering oni, wears Parsee's clothing.

A brown jacket with purple borders that are adorned by white waving strings, which reaches down to the oni's waist with a blue extension, yet leaving her belly-button exposed, a black shirt underneath that looks as though its ready to break around the breasts, a black skirt with red crossing strings on the bottom, a pair of pink socks, and to top it off, a pink scarf around her neck and around her waist, and pink arm socks.

Yuugi keeps her shackles on her wrists and ankles, seeing as they look hard to remove.

Rika stands dumbstruck at the sight of the girls, suppresses her desire to point at them, then asks "so... why are you two-?"

Yuugi aims her confident eyes straight at Rika and says "this? It's nothing! We were just having some fun!"

Only moving her eyes for fear of losing her grip on the large skirt, Parsee looks at Yuugi, and in an angry undertone, says "that's enough fun. Give me back my clothes... You're stretching the fabric."

Now Rika's lips wriggle, her cheeks puff and turn pink, and her eyes start getting watery as she tries her best to hold in her laughter, and after taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she says "ahem... right. I need to go to Chireiden, so if it's alright, I'll..."

Yuugi walks over to Rika, smacks the maid's back with her large hand, making Rika cough and stumble all the way to the end of the bridge, then loudly says "sure thing! You go on ahead, and send Satori our regards!"

Parsee whispers "not mine. I still want my own palace."

Rika turns around and bows while saying "thank you very much! I'll let miss Satori know."

Right then, there is a loud ripping sound, then Yuugi says "whoops. It broke. Oh well, it's a lot fresher now."

Rika lifts her head and sees Yuugi, smiling while rubbing the back of her head, and Parsee's black shirt with a large hole right in the middle of the chest, showing off a good chunk of cleavage.

Parsee looks as though frozen in shock, the skirt falls off to reveal a pair of tight black panties, but the jealousy youkai is too concerned for her broken shirt to care, then suddenly stomps furiously with her left leg and shouts "you idiot! Look at what those meat-mounds did to my shirt!"

Yuugi chuckles, then says "it's alright, calm down. I'll get you a new one."

Parsee starts roaring while raising her arms, then Rika starts to giggle loudly.

The blonde girls stare curiously at Rika, who suddenly stops her giggling when she realizes what she did.

Blushing hard, Rika flaps her wings hard, covers her mouth with her right hand, wraps her left arm under her chest, then bows and nervously says "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! That was so inappropriate of me!"

Yuugi just laughs out loud, while Parsee looks away to hide her blushing face, then says "y-you're lucky I like you, or I'd whack that face of yours into shape!"

The jealousy youkai starts biting down on her left thumb while thinking "so cute. So darn cute! I want to jump her! No, Parsee... Look away! Just look away!"

Yuugi continues to smile while blood gushes out her nose, then says "you know, you are just too adorable, miss Rika. Can I hug you?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Reimu, Marisa and Sanae are flying above the Myouren Temple, and have left a large trail of fairies on the ground on their way there, then Sanae suddenly says "I don't know why, but I think I want to kill Ail the next time I see him."

Reimu sighs, then says "you know, if you keep trying to hunt him down, he's going to get tired of you."

Marisa looks away with longing eyes, then says "you listen to her. That's how I lost my last three boyfriends."

Reimu looks angrily at Marisa and barks "you've never had boyfriends, you liar!"

Marisa looks away from Reimu while holding her pink cheeks and smiling, then says "it's like you don't know me at all, daze."

Sanae gasps after realizing something, then asks "hey, how would you know about that stuff, Reimu? You've never had a boyfriend."

Reimu twitches, her eyes hide under her hair, then she suddenly smiles brightly at Sanae and says "sorry, it's just that I read something over at Patchouli's library... so, umm... yeah."

Sanae rubs herself under her chin while thinking, then says to herself "well, she might be right. He's been avoiding me a lot lately. Hmm... but he's a half youkai, and I'm a shrine maiden, so..."

Before Sanae can finish thinking, Reimu and Marisa shout "look out!", then Sanae is hit hard by a blue bullet that comes accompanied by a cluster of red and blue shard bullets.

After Sanae yelps and falls, various red and white "P" tabs appear in the air, which Marisa and Reimu claim immediately.

Sanae returns, looking translucent for a moment, then cries out "hey, those are mine!"

Marisa shrugs and says "you cost us a life, so fair's fair, ze.", then Reimu adds "whatever. You take care of this one."

They are now behind the Myouren Temple, and in front of them, smiling childishly, is Lily White, the exceedingly adorable spring fairy.

She has long blonde hair, green eyes, white feathery wings, and wears a white cone hat with red waves on the lower borders, a long white dress that reaches to her ankles, with red waves on the lower borders, a white capelet with red borders, and cute little white shoes.

Sanae stares at stage two's mid boss and asks "but it's almost summer. Why are you even here?"

Lily twirls in the air, and says "it's still Spring! Besides, I promised him I'd slow you down... so~"

She twirls in the air again and unleashes quite a few red and white shard-bullets, though not as many as when it's the start of Spring.

The bullets slowly make their way toward Sanae, who moves lazily to the right to avoid being hit, and shoots exploding white frogs, along with those colorful stars of hers at the fairy.

Lily confidently twirls left to avoid the colorful stars, but doesn't notice the white frog that's headed her way.

It's too late to move away by the time the fairy notices the frog, so all she can do at the time is sweat, groan, and say "shoot, Spring's over."

The little fairy screams as she explodes and while falling to the bush below, and right after she's out of the way, the girls continue their way toward the Human Village.

Right before reaching the village, Sanae says "next one is yours. I want to think for a moment."

Reimu chuckles, then says "sure. We know what a task that is for you."

Sanae completely ignores Reimu and engages in thinking hard about her relation with Ail, and now that she's concentrating on that, she's shooting down fairies without even looking, blowing them up even before they make it to the rectangular screen.

Reimu and Marisa look awestruck at the green-haired maiden, then nod simultaneously and fly behind Sanae, allowing her to freely shoot the poor fairies down.

* * *

The Human Village; a peaceful place for humans, and human-friendly youkai to reside and commute. It is surrounded by a large and sturdy wall with four exits; to the north, the south, the east, and to the west; and has many wooden houses, particularly around the north, east and west exits, though some are uninhabited at the time.

Around the south, and south-west are the many shops and kiosks, as well as restaurants, bars and a few food stands.

This area is usually where most people are to either commune, or, of course, shop, and so, the fairies can play with the three heroines as they make their way through to the northern exit.

In the center of the village is the large school with a small bell tower, as well as a few more houses around it, and at the very exact center, surrounded by flower patches, a few trees, and various bushes, is the Dragon-God statue with jeweled eyes.

These jewels are no mere adornment, as they predict the day's weather, as well as warn of dangerous incidents, and right now they are glowing white, which means today is, and will remain a sunny day.

Marisa takes the lead when they reach the center of the village, and is shooting the fairies she can with green sparks and bright stars, clearly going for the overkill.

From behind the school, a girl shouts "wait a minute, you guys!", then another girls shouts "Mary, you first greet friends, then make dem- I mean, requests!"

Marisa and Reimu, even though they are in mid-air, skid to a stop, while Sanae quietly halts behind them, and thinks some more.

Two girls fly up to meet with the three heroines, one being Maribel Han, the bubbly, free-spirited thinker, and the other is Renko Usami, the plain and studious schoolgirl.

The girls stare at their names and titles, written in gradient purple and gold before them, then Maribel giggles and says "oh my.", while Renko growls and says "I'm not plain, dammit!"

Maribel has short, curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and wears a long, purple, long-sleeved dress that reaches to her knees, a white mop cap, a white sash around her waist, and a pair of white slip-on shoes.

Renko has short, brown hair, brown eyes, and wears a black hat, a white, long-sleeved shirt, a red tie, a black skirt that reaches to her knees, and a pair of white socks and black shoes.

Maribel claps her hands under her chin, smiles, and in a bubbly tone, says "so, Renko and I came up with these cool spell cards, and we'd like you three to be the first to see them."

Speaking in a low tone of voice, Renko smiles and adds "and also be our first targets."

Reimu and Marisa are already taking attack positions, then Reimu says "alright, we'll play with you for a bit."

Marisa snickers, then says "you should have picked better targets."

Both Maribel and Renko gulp, watch as a life bar appears over their heads, whimper, then Renko says "alright Mary, you're up first!"

The brown-haired plain girl makes a hasty retreat to the sidelines, while Maribel is left to fend for herself.

The cute blonde girl looks to her left, noticing the grid with the scores, then shouts "hey! Why do I have to be first? And my name is Maribel! Ma-ri-bel! Say it right!"

Marisa and Reimu look like demons ready to attack, smiling with glowing eyes and taking aim at the human girl, then Reimu says "don't worry, we'll go easy on you."

Marisa, in a more sinister voice, says "since you are human, we'll stop short from killing you, but we'll still hit hard."

Maribel trembles, curls up as if trying to hide in mid-air, then suddenly screams and cries while shooting pink and red hearts from her extended hands.

* * *

While the girl shoots, she closes her eyes and cries out loud "they want to kill meee~! Renko! Renko, save meee~!"

Not only did Maribel shoot at Renko, she has also, single-handedly, depleted the first life bar, and then, her bullets stop.

Renko peeks her furious, burned face from behind the gird, glares at Maribel, then calmly says "you... just shot at me... and depleted our first life bar."

Maribel's cheeks turn pink as she smiles at Renko, trying to save herself from her friend's rage, but it obviously fails when Renko shouts "AIM THAT SPELL CARD AT THEM, YOU IDIOT!"

Somehow, Renko has managed to strike Maribel on the head from far away, and with a fresh, steaming bump, and tears of pain and regret, Maribel lifts a spell card on her right hand and cries "Illusion of my Mind."

Reimu and Marisa stop laughing when they hear the sound of the spell card activating, then gasp in awe when behind Maribel, the illusion of a flower field becomes solid, making the flowers in particular, seem real.

Maribel smiles, then says "and you haven't seen anything yet!", then the flowers start shooting small pink hearts in straight lines, while Maribel shoots large hearts in various colors that explode when they reach the middle of the rectangle screen, and the smaller hearts that come from that explosion flutter toward Reimu and Marisa like snowflakes.

The girls smile while gazing at the admittedly-pretty, but simple pattern, and move up, down, left, or right between the bullet's gaps to avoid being hit, plus adding more points to their graze.

While casually moving around the wave of bullets, Reimu asks "so, you want to take a whack at her?"

Marisa grins, aims her right hand at Maribel, then asks "do you need to ask?", and without hesitation, she fires her stars and green sparks at Maribel.

The blonde girl complains when those burning stars and sparks make contact with her, making small burn marks and tears on her clothes, and when a pair of stars hit right below her stomach, she bites her bottom lip, crosses her eyes, and stops her spell.

While Marisa and Reimu admire the large numbers in yellow, showing them the spell card bonus, Maribel grabs Renko from the side of the grid, pulls her to the center, then says "need to pee! Be right back!"

Renko growls, then shouts "you should have done that sooner!", then faces Marisa and Reimu, smiles, then says "you'll get no mercy from me!", and starts shooting earth-element bullets at the two girls.

Reimu takes the front and says "allow me", then shoots her talismans and homing amulets at the brown-haired girl.

Renko manages to avoid Reimu's bullets with ease, then sticks out her tongue at the maiden, but before being able to taunt her, the homing amulets she forgot to doge attack from the sides, striking her hips, and gaining Reimu her victory.

Renko looks up at the life bar as it goes down unfairly fast, then cries "hey! That's not even fair!"

She aims her glare at Reimu and shouts "FINE! Take this then! Earth Sign, Rising Pikes!"

Small stone thorns rise from the ground directly below Reimu and Marisa, and rapidly fly up at the girls in a random order, while Renko grins viciously and showers them with diagonal showers of stone pikes.

Though simple, Marisa and Reimu are having a hard time dodging the spikes form below, losing bits of clothes when the spikes graze them, and Marisa's broom almost gets hit by one of Renko's pikes.

Annoyed, Marisa says "tch! I better knock her down a peg before she messes my hat.", then starts shooting bright-green sparks and spiraling stars at Renko, who screams when those bullets hit her.

Reimu can see how each of Marisa's bullets sends a small shockwave that penetrates Renko's defenses, and even her clothes, and doing so drains that life bar, like a sponge absorbs water.

Again, Reimu and Marisa score the spell card bonus, while Renko moans in disbelief.

Maribel flies to Renko, smiles, then says "alright, I can continue now. Oh, seems to me they beat you already."

Renko grabs Maribel's left hand with her right, then says "time for the last one! Mary, with me!"

Maribel cries "it's Maribel!", then raises a spell card with her right hand, Renko raises another with her left, then both shout "Loving Earth!"

Three massive earth spikes appears in front of Renko and Maribel, and all are surrounded by silver hearts, but what shocks Reimu and Marisa to a heart-stopping gasp, is the staggering number of small hearts and earth bullets behind the girls that seem to be dancing around each other.

Reimu opens her mouth wide and shouts "HEY! That's a Lunatic level spell!"

Marisa nods in assent, but Renko just smiles and says "all's fair in love and war."

Two large golden washtubs fall right on top of Maribel and Renko, knocking them both out of the air, cancelling their spell, and giving Reimu and Marisa the full spell card bonus score.

While the two human girls explode before crashing on the roof of the school, Marisa looks at Reimu, chuckles, then says "and so we move on."

Reimu sighs, then says "that'll teach them to bend the rules. Come on Sanae, we're going to stage three now."

Sanae appears from the left-side border of the screen, then says "I have decided that I will stop trying to hunt Ail down! And with that, let's go and beat... wait, what happened to the girls? Er, the bosses?"

Reimu face palms and Marisa raises both hands in the air, both lightly shake their heads at the same time, then Reimu says "we're happy for you, now focus, or we're leaving you behind."

Sanae shrieks nervously, then hurries to the front while saying "ah, wait, no! Sorry! I'll be more careful!"

Marisa laughs as she flies after Sanae, while Reimu stays behind, sighs, then says to herself "that pampered girl gets too many good things at once, undervalues them... and still..."

She shrugs off her thoughts, then flies after Marisa and Sanae, towards the next stage.

* * *

Meanwhile at Chireiden's front yard, which is currently filled with flowers of all colors, probably from Petal, Rika looks up at the large white building with stained-glass windows, and red roof, and wonders if she should bother the inhabitants.

But she really needs those gloves, and the materials she needs are precisely in Satori's inner garden, and the entrance to the Remains of Blazing Hell.

Behind her, she can hear the many spirits and oni calling out to her, inviting her for drinks and party, but she knows she has to return to the shrine before Reimu does, so she takes a deep breath, expands her already voluptuous chest, walks to the door, then knocks hard on it with her right fist.

She only waits for about fifteen seconds in front of the large wooden dual-door before she hears a shriek from within, then Satori's voice as she nervously says "ah. Mi-miss Rika! I-I-I'll be there in a moment!"

While she waits, she hears a little girl's giggle in the area, but when she looks around, she fails to see anyone.

When she turns around to the door again, she starts admiring the recently painted red roof, the white walls and columns adorning the front of the palace, and the little girl with long, wavy grey-greenish hair and dark green eyes standing beside her.

Rika shrieks and jumps away, then exclaims "m-m-miss Koishi! You startled me!"

Koishi Komeiji, the subconscious little monster-wonder, wears a black hat with a yellow ribbon, a yellow, long-sleeved shirt with light-blue diamond-shaped buttons, black frills on the sleeves' borders and green collar, a green skirt with light-green flower designs, black ankle-high boots, and has a closed blue eye with a string going over her shoulders, around her waist, and link to hearts on her ankles.

She smiles innocently at Rika, then asks "well, miss Rika, how are you? Did you come to mess with sis again?"

Rika stares at Koishi as though in shock, then shakes her confused head and asks "mess with...? What?"

The dual-door opens up, and there is Satori Komeiji, the peace-loving mind-reader.

She has short pink hair, purple eyes, a red third-eye attached to red and yellow strings that go all over her body, and wears a black headband, a light-blue, long-sleeved shirt with yellow heart-shaped buttons, a pink collar and pink frills at the end of her sleeves, a light-pink skirt with pink rose designs, a pair of light-pink socks, and pink fluffy sandals.

Satori spots Koishi next to Rika, raises both arms, slightly bends her knees, then signals Rika to keep quiet.

Koishi simply stands still and smiles at her sister, while Satori slowly gets closer, and closer, and when she's close enough, she jumps on Koishi and tries to trap her with her arms.

Koishi jumps away at the last second, lands several feet behind Rika, then raises her arms in the air and runs toward the Ancient City, shouting "she's after me lucky charms!"

* * *

Satori sighs as she lifts her head to watch her little sister run away, and as Rika helps her up, she asks "Koishi, what am I going to do with you? And where in blazes did she pick up that cheesy line anyway?"

Rika giggles nervously and shrugs, then opens her mouth to speak, but Satori beats her to it and says "oh, _you want to make special gloves that resist both heat and immense friction, and the materials you need are here?_ Well then, let's go to my backyard. I'm sure Petal will be delighted to see you too."

Rika giggles, then says "miss Satori, you must be a riot at parties."

Satori looks at Rika with a rather unfriendly look, then says "I try to keep away from those. Too many minds at once can be troublesome for me."

Rika bows her head, nervously chuckles, and says "I-I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to offend. I-I just..."

Satori looks at Rika, tries to soften up her face, but while reading her heart, she can see the memories from the girl's past.

She opens her eyes wide, but manages to take a deep breath to calm herself down, then say "phew. Don't worry about that, Rika. Um, please, just follow me."

Rika closes her eyes, thinking she just made Satori feel even worse, then quietly follows the satori youkai to the backyard.

The walk is awkwardly quiet, though not for Satori, who could hear Rika's nervous thoughts all the way to their destination, and after just a few minutes, they reach the backyard.

After Satori opens the door, Rika is once again amazed at the beautiful sight.

A white gazebo with a picnic table and chairs besides a large black tree with pink leaves, flowers of all sizes and colors, growing even from the roof; probably Petal's doing; and in the center of all, the hole leading to the old Blazing Hell.

Satori gestures Rika to go on, and says "please, go on and take whatever materials you need."

Rika bows as she says "I am very grateful for your hospitality.", then straightens out and walks toward the black tree, though the moment she steps into the yard, a raven with white feathers that make a zigzag effect around the neck, and wearing a familiar necklace that has a green pyramid-like stone, flies on to the maid's shoulder.

The little baby raven caws and nibbles Rika's left ear, then Satori says "Petal, please don't trouble our guest."

The baby raven flies onto Satori's arms, while Rika says "it's alright. It's no trouble at all."

Petal starts glowing, and with a loud pop, she turns into a girl.

Petal, the life-giving flower raven, has short black hair with a white stripe on the middle, navy-blue eyes, a pair of black wings, and her necklace is now embedded on her chest, probably to mimic Okuu's own third eye.

She wears a plaid-blue ribbon on the back of her head, a plaid-blue overall dress that reaches to her knees, a pink, short-sleeved shirt, a pink cape that covers her wings, with a daytime sky with moving clouds on the underside of said cape, and a pair of black knee-high boots.

She's roughly shorter than Satori in size, and obviously light, seeing as the satori youkai can hold her with ease.

Petal starts kicking the air as she lifts up to hug Satori's neck, then smiles and says "Shatori-shama-love! Petal troubles Rika-love is a no-no. Petal good! Praise!"

Satori sighs as she combs the little raven's short hair with her hand, then says "there, there, it's alright. I'm not angry. Miss Rika is just here to pick up a few things. Well then, Rika, whenever you're ready."

Rika stands next to Satori, with Petal to her right, and holds a full, light-brown bag on her right hand while smiling and saying "but I already picked them up. didn't you hear me say that three minutes ago?"

Satori twitches, though manages to keep her light smile, then nervously says "oh... heh, I see. Umm... p-please, let's head inside, then."

Before following Satori, Rika looks around, and before she asks, Satori says "_why haven't I seen miss Okuu or miss Orin_? Please don't concern yourself about them. They are over at the surface, with Ail."

Shocked, Rika asks "Ail? Is he alright?"

Satori grins, her eyes hide under a ominous shadow, then she says "he and I had a game of danmaku, I beat him, so now, he has to take care of those two for today. Still, he was scheming something very stupid. Still, I hope Orin and Okuu have fun."

Rika decides it is best not to ask more, then Satori grins and adds "that's a very wise choice."

* * *

Above ground, Reimu, Marisa and Sanae now fly over the Forest of Magic, and while taking down large numbers of fairies with ease, the girls also enjoy the sight of the many trees under them, though it's mostly because they are watching as the fairies fall after exploding.

The fairies stop their attacks, and being the experienced incident resolvers, Reimu and Marisa know there's a mid-boss headed their way.

Marisa grins, then says "alright, someone's about to pop in front of us.", and right on cue, Chen, the overconfident nekomata, spins out of the left side of the screen, shooting green and yellow orbs in wide triangular formations that scatter about at random.

She has short brown hair, dark-orange eyes, a pair of black cat ears with a golden earring on the left one, two black cat tails, and wears a green mop-cap, a red Chinese dress with long pink sleeves, a white bow under the collar, and a pair of white socks.

She spins around while shooting those bullets, one after the other, then shouts "ha-ha-ha! Come on, try to beat me!"

Sanae flies straight at the nekomata, dodging bullets by flying between them and gathering graze points, and when Chen spins her way, the maiden swings her gohei like a bat, and sends the spinning cat girl to the left side of the screen, causing the grid to tremble after there is a loud thud.

From the distance, Chen calls "I'm okay~!", then Sanae shoots a single blue star toward the cat girl, making her scream while the screen trembles some more.

Both Reimu and Marisa stare in shock at the green-haired maiden, then Marisa says "wow, that was cold, ze."

Sanae flips her hair toward the blonde witch and says "hmph! I don't want to hear that from you. She was a youkai, and wouldn't let us pass. She had to be punished."

From behind her, a familiar little girl's voice strikes many levels of terror and shock on Sanae's entire being as she says "mama Sanny, I can't believe you'd be the one to bully Chen like that! And after I said all that to papa; about how nice you were!"

Sanae turns her terrified self toward the source of the voice, and there she is, pouting adorably while tapping her left foot in mid-air, and placing her fists on her hips, Budou, the adorably innocent grape lover.

The little bat youkai giggles upon looking at her name and title, then says "te-hee, I sure love grapes."

She has long teal hair that reach her large brown bat wings, which are the exact size as her body, violet eyes without pupils, yet full of life, small fangs, small claws, and wears a white bow with black borders to the left of her head, a long light-brown, long-sleeved dress, a teal apron that covers the front of her skirt, and a pair of pink socks that allow her little claws through without breaking.

Sanae gasps and asks "Budou? You are the third stage boss?"

Budou confidently points at herself with her right thumb, and says "that's right! I'm helping out papa Ail today. I was going to let you through, mama Sanny, but after you bullied Chen like that... I don't think I should. Now, get ready!"

Sanae desperately says "no way! Budou, you stop this right now before you get-muff... Mmm! Mmm mmm!"

Before she finishes speaking, Marisa ties a ribbon over Sanae's mouth and pulls her away, while Reimu takes the lead gain and says "alright, miss third-stage boss. Come at me with all you got!"

Budou smiles at Reimu, then her smile turns mischievous, as she and the maiden look eye-to-eye.

Confident, Budou stretches her little fingers, takes offensive position, then says "you'll never reach papa, Hakurei sis!"

* * *

As soon as the battle begins, Budou showers Reimu with thin aquamarine lasers that bounce off the rectangular-screen walls and bottom once.

Reimu takes it easy at first, but notices the lasers speed up after bouncing off the walls, and after getting grazed under her belly, she exclaims "whoa! Hey, you've gotten good, but let me show you our many differences in strength. Hup!"

The maiden starts throwing her talismans and homing amulets at such incredible speeds, her hands look like white blurs, but the little bat youkai isn't giving up so easily, and starts flying around to avoid Reimu's attacks, at the same time as shooting her lasers from her hands.

Reimu looks impressed; she never imagined that tiny youkai to actually be this good, so she stops shooting, flies toward Budou, then throws a homing amulet at point-blank range, getting Budou on the stomach with that exploding amulet.

From far back, Marisa's face turns blue while Sanae muffles curses and cusses at Reimu, and the red and white one turns her self-satisfied smile at Sanae and says "she's a boss. I have to take her down."

Budou growls, then says "fine! If that's what you want, take this! Wave Sign, Shapeless Mind!"

The little youkai closes her eyes to focus, as green beams start spreading out from her hands and form what look like a pair of giant claws.

She grins at Reimu, then swings the right claw at a considerable speed, and although the swing is out of range, it unleashes a thick lime-green beam that bounces off the walls several times, getting thinner and gaining speed with every bounce.

Reimu smiles with confidence when Budou starts swinging those beam-claws around, unleashing more of those beams, and starts twirling around the air as though she's being moved by drafts of wind, avoiding every single laser beam, regardless of size, and when Budou pauses her attack for a moment, Reimu flies over to the youkai and showers her with talismans while flying around her.

The spell is immediately canceled when Budou starts complaining about the pain and starts writhing around to assimilate with the feeling.

After Reimu takes her position in front of Budou again, and her spell card bonus shows up on the field, the bat youkai, with dangling tears under her eyes, angrily shouts "you'll pay for that!"

The bat youkai starts opening her mouth, and when she does, she sends round sound waves that split into orbs that scatter about randomly, then fires green lasers all around herself, all while Reimu moves about and showers her with charms.

Budou's dress tears up around her abdomen, the little bat youkai shrieks, Sanae tries to cuss at Reimu again, then Budou pulls a spell card from her apron's pocket, and shouts "Wave Sign, Ringing Ears!"

Budou claps her hands hard, then cups them around her mouth, and shrieks as loudly as she can, generating three, almost-invisible sound waves.

Reimu fails to see one of the waves and gets paralyzed on contact, then all three sound waves become flashing green and white orbs that fly straight at the maiden, taking a life with a loud "pu-chiun", thus, leaving behind those red and white "P" tabs.

Reimu returns to the scene, looking translucent for a brief moment, and while grabbing those red tabs, she growls and says "alright, so you got me once. I still got three lives left. Now take this, little bat!"

Budou starts shooting lasers from her hands after sending a second set of waves, but Reimu is ready.

She twirls above the lasers, dives diagonally between the center and left sound waves, then shoots various needles and charms at Budou.

The needles break through the third set of sound waves, then the charms stick on Budou's wrists, making her scream in pain.

The spell is canceled, but instead of having Budou run away, Reimu gaps with surprise when she sees the little bat youkai crying, yet looking angry as she says "you *sob* you bully! I'll *sob* teach you some manners!"

Reimu shouts back "just give it up already!"

Budou lifts another spell card and shouts "The Song of the Heart - Revelation!"

As soon as the spell activates, Budou sings a single, loud note, sending a powerful vibration that reaches Reimu, making her stop in mid-air.

Smiling, Budou says "ha! Got her!", then starts singing in different notes and generating several musical notes that fly straight at the maiden, though Reimu doesn't seem to care.

She floats in mid-air with a hateful look on her face, and inside her mind, she can hear herself, laughing along a familiar girl, and a boy.

The more time passes, the louder the laughs become inside her mind, and the worst she gets, going as far as twitching when hearing those laughs.

Meanwhile, the musical notes explode and turn into green shard bullets that take a square or triangular formation, and head straight to Reimu, then the maiden suddenly snaps from her own mind.

She screams to the air, emanating a powerful energy wave that pushes Budou's bullets away, her eyes return to normal, yet tears cling to them, and with an angry expression, Reimu lifts a spell card in the air and shouts "Treasure Sign, Yin-Yang Orb!"

A gold-colored yin-yang orb appears in front of Reimu, and screaming loudly, she strikes the back of it with her gohei, using all her might into that attack, sending it straight at Budou, who screams out loud when the holy magic burns her, then explode hard and plunges straight to the ground.

* * *

Both Marisa and Sanae remain still in mid-air as they stare at Reimu in shock, though Sanae recovers quickly, easily breaks away from Marisa, then dives after Budou, who fell right next to an old tree, right on top of a brunette fairy dressed in green rags.

Marisa is more concerned about Reimu, who remains airborne while looking toward the horizon with a look of rage and despair.

When close enough, the witch asks "oi, Reimu, are you ok?"

The shrine maiden takes a couple of deep breaths through her teeth, stops shivering, then looks at Marisa's slightly worried smile and says "I... um, yeah... Yeah, I'm alright now. Still, that spell... was unpleasant."

Marisa sighs with relief, then smiles as she usually does and says "man, you scared me there. Still, you really let Budou have it. I haven't seen you bat that yin-yang so hard since Mima-sama tried to kill you."

Reimu suddenly shrieks, panics and looks around, then asks "oh no! I think I overdid it! Where's Budou?"

Marisa casually points downward, then she and Reimu get closer to Sanae on the ground, and the dazed bat youkai around her arms.

Sanae points up at Reimu and shouts "you crossed the line Reimu! You didn't have to hit her this hard! LOOK AT HER!"

At first, Reimu feels a little ashamed, though doesn't show it, but upon looking at Budou's spinning eyes and goofy, drooling smile, she relaxes and says "eh, she's fine. She's already waking up."

Sanae looks at the little youkai, as she moans while waking up, then smiles and exclaims "Budou, you're alright!"

The little bat youkai smiles when she sees Sanae's face upon waking up, but she quickly frowns when she realizes she's in trouble for picking a fight with them in the first place.

Agitated, Sanae asks "Budou, what the hell were you thinking? I was so worried, we had to pause the game to see that you were alright!"

Budou stares at Sanae's worried face, then notices the worry on Reimu's, and the slight interest in Marisa's faces, then starts feeling scared.

Her lips wriggle, her mouth feels dry, her eyes water, then little Budou suddenly starts to cry "I'm sorryyyyy~!"

From above, Reimu says "way to go, Sanae. Now you made her cry."

Sanae embraces the little youkai and pats her head, while looking up and saying "aww, shut up! I'm not the one that knocked her out in the first place!"

Budou continues to sob and cry on Sanae's shoulder, then suddenly, without provocation, she cries "papa *sniff* wanted to do something, but *sob* didn't want you to see it! *hic* Then he asked me if I *sob* wanted to help *sob*, so I helped and promised to *sob* to stop youuu."

Sanae's face becomes relaxed, though her eyes hide under a dark and ominous shadow, and in a awkwardly calm tone of voice, Sanae asks "so... Ail put you up to this?"

Budou tightens her grip on Sanae, sniffles and sobs, then says "yes. But I wanted to help papa."

Reimu looks frightened at Marisa, then says "Marisa... you do realize what's about to happen, right?"

Marisa stares quietly at Reimu, who looks back at her friend with a concerned look, then says "when someone as adorable as Budou cries, then points at the source of her discontent, you know that source is..."

Marisa gulps, lowers the front of her hat to cover her eyes, frowns, then says "totally dead. Now I feel sorry for him. I hope Ail's got no regrets left."

Right after Marisa finishes her sentence, Sanae flies off the ground while holding on to Budou, creates a magical tail due to the speed she's going, and shouts "AIL, HOW DARE YOU! I'm going to kill you~!"

Reimu and Marisa sigh, shake their heads, then Reimu says "come on. Let's try to save his life."

Marisa nods and flies after Reimu, while casually asking "should we really bother?"

* * *

Back at Chireiden, Rika and Satori work inside the kitchen, which looks surprisingly western, with the cooking area surrounded by countertops and cabinets, and having the stove and oven at the left side of the area, the sink further to the right of it, separated by a countertop that has no cabinet underneath, and a small area of movement in the middle of it all.

There is a small white table with white wooden chairs around it, also adorned by a basket with flowers, sitting in an extension of the kitchen, and seems two of the chairs have been used, while Petal sits on the left-side chair, holding her juice cup with both hands while drinking up.

Rika is cleaning the cups and dishes in the sink, while satori cleans the stove, paying close attention to the spilled sauce beside the front-left grill, then Rika suddenly asks "so... what's that second cake you baked for?"

While looking at the stovetop, Satori's eyes glint, her usual half-smile becomes a full, mischievous grin, then she says "oh, you'll find out soon."

The satori youkai quickly relaxes, then says "too bad you can't wait for Orin and Okuu. They'll be so disappointed."

Rika giggles nervously, while beads of sweat roll down her forehead, but before she speaks, Satori says "_you can't, because you need to get back to the shrine before troubling your mistress?_ I see. Well, when you are feeling better, please come back and-"

Rika twitches, smiles, straightens up, and nervously says "wha-what do you mean? I'm feeling great! I'm..."

Her smile quickly becomes a frown as she softly says "I've... never been better."

Satori stares at Rika with those seemingly unfriendly eyes, but before she can speak up, a girl's scream rumbles all the way toward the kitchen, startling Rika, and scaring Petal into her bird from, spilling the rest of her juice, and bumping her head hard on the ceiling while trying to escape.

Rika shouts "oh my! Petal, you poor thing!", then rushes to aid her, while Satori sighs, smiles, then says "I knew that would work."

Holding Petal around her arms, Rika rejoins Satori, who walks over toward the door next to the kitchen sink, then says "come. I'll need your help."

Rika stars rubbing the bump on Petal's head, making the baby crow caw contently, then walks after Satori toward the entrance corridor.

In the middle of the corridor, there is a net with Koishi crying inside while eating a pink cake.

When Satori and Rika get close, Koishi sniffles, then whimpers "you meanie! You knew I'd never mistrust cake."

Satori smiles triumphantly, while Rika stares at the scene in disbelief, then asks "umm... Miss Satori, what is going on here?"

Satori continues to smile as she rises her right fist in the air, pulls down her sleeve to show Rika the bracelet with the tiger and eagle eye stones, then says "ever since you gave me this, I've been able to read some of her thoughts, so she's been doing all she can to avoid me. But it was all just a matter of time before I caught her."

Inside the net, Koishi sniffles and whimpers while taking a bite off her cake, and with her mouth full, she says "that's so unfair. Now sis won't shut off her eye."

Petal turns back to her human form, making Rika twitch and gasp in surprise, then jumps away from Rika and flies toward Koishi, saying "yay! Ishi-Ishi-shama-love! Cake is delicious for Petal! Share, SHARE!"

Koishi stares at Petal, takes a handful of cake, then tosses it through one of the large openings on the net, making Petal fly after it and repeat the word "cake" over and over.

Rika sighs, closes her eyes, then says "bless that child..."

She opens her eyes again, and says "she's so happy here. I hope she never loses that happiness."

Satori grabs Rika's right arm, pulls her down, then says "I've seen them. I can still see them, Rika. You are allowing those memories to hinder you, when you should be gaining strength from them."

Rika hyperventilates while thinking up an excuse for herself, but long before she finds one, Satori says "you do realize those things happened once, and now they are gone, but as long as you keep them in front of your eyes, I'm afraid you'll never gain the strength they provide."

Rika sighs in defeat, lets her body hang limp, then says "I'm trying, but they are too much for me. Please understand I am just a mere human. I can't-"

Satori softly karate-chops Rika's head, then says "don't speak like that. You know as well as I do what you truly are, and how strong you can be. Stop making up excuses. You even defeated that darkness in you!"

Rika straightens up while holding her head and looks toward the exit, then Satori says "fine, I will not say more, but please, do consider what I just said."

Rika softly nods, and as she walks over to the exit, she says "please send my regards to miss Orin and miss Okuu. Oh, and miss Parsee and miss Yuugi sent their regards to you as well."

Satori sighs, waves at Rika, even though the shrine maid has her back turned, then wraps her right arm around Koishi, who is mysteriously beside her, then says "that girl completely messes my mind up, and yet I feel a bit strange, seeing her sad like that."

Koishi licks her fingers from all the icing, nods at Satori, then says "she'll be fine, onee-chan. She just needs a bit of a push."

Satori quietly nods, then she, Koishi, and Petal, who is flying in circles overhead, make their way toward the palace's foyer.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sanae speeds through the mountainous regions after the Forest of Magic, while Reimu and Marisa fly only a few feet behind her, though they are stuck with the fairies that, for some odd reason, keep attacking them, even though they are taking the little fairies out by the insane numbers.

After taking out yet another small group of fairies, Reimu shouts "Sanae, just hold on!"

Marisa angrily shouts "you speedy green-haired miko, I can see your pink panties from here!"

From the distance, Sanae shouts "I don't care! I'm killing Ail, right now!", then Budou happily adds "I think this is going to be fun to watch!"

A girl with fiery-red hair tied into twin-side-braids by black ribbons on the top and bottom, red eyes, black cat ears, human ears, two tails, and wearing a long black and green decorated dress with green frills at the bottom, and a pair of black shoes and a black lace on her left leg, flies in front of Reimu and Marisa and shouts "hold on there, sis, and witch sis!"

Reimu and Marisa stop and gaze upon Rin Kaenbyou, the corpse-for-brains kasha, and whom is also known as Orin, then Reimu asks "hey, aren't you supposed to stop the one in the lead? That would be the main player, you know."

Orin chuckles nervously while scratching her left cheek, and says "um, I tried, but she just flew right past me. Kind of annoying, really. I mean, what the hell's her problem?"

Marisa chortles, then says "she's going to kill Ail for making Budou be a stage three boss."

Orin lowers her ears, sighs, then says "well, the game rules do say I have to fight you and all... but due to the circumstances, I'll just tag along so I can tell Okuu to stand down."

Marisa and Reimu look at each other with terrified shock in their eyes, then shout at the same time "that IDIOT asked Okuu for help?"

Up ahead on stage four, Budou clings on to Sanae's back, and uses her wings to propel Sanae through the air even faster than before, going so fast, the fairies slump in disappointment when they fail to get in their way.

Budou points ahead, and shouts "we should be reaching the Garden of the Sun pretty soon. After that, the Nameless Hill, and papa Ail."

Though they are in mid-air, Sanae skids to a stop, looks around suspiciously, and right after Budou asks "what's wrong, Mama Sanny?", a massive orb of pure atomic energy zips downward, close to the girls, then explodes so violently, the rocks and floor below become one massive crater.

After the shockwave from the blast subsides, a girl loudly says "unyu~! No way you're getting through me! I'll stop you, then he will give me MORE shiny stones!"

The girl has long, raven-black hair tied on the back with a green ribbon, dark-red eyes, and wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt, a white cape with the universe apparently drifting in it, the cape is kept aloft by her large raven wings, a short green skirt, and a black sock and black shoe on her left leg.

On her right arm, she wears the brown control rod, which is called "The Third Leg", on her chest, she has a large red slitted-pupil eye, her right foot is covered by congealed material that looks like a cement shoe, and atoms orbit her left foot.

Utsuho Reiuji, the overpowered nuclear birdbrain, also known as Okuu, looks at her name and title, points at it, looks at Sanae, and smiles while asking "can I eat that?"

Sanae looks deceivingly calm at the hell raven, and sounding seemingly calm, she asks "so, you're going to prevent me from reaching Ail, is that it?"

Okuu smiles innocently as she nods, then says "he already gave me these very shiny stones, and I just LOVE them, and he promised to give me more if I stopped you."

Budou gulps, then says "mama, I'm going to close my eyes now."

Sanae smiles, seemingly motherly at Budou, and says "go ahead sweetie. This won't take long."

Budou flaps her large bat wings to keep airborne and covers her eyes with her little hands, while Sanae gets closer and closer to Okuu.

The hell raven smiles and asks "wait, aren't you supposed to stay away from me?"

Sanae places her right hand on Okuu's shoulder, showing a massive vein pulsating on its back, her seemingly sweet smile becomes a crescent, jagged-toothed, vile grin, her eyes turn demonic, then raises her gohei, and poor Okuu screams along with the sounds of loud smacking, ripping, exploding, and even poking.

There is a loud explosion, then Sanae can be heard dusting her hands as she says "it's alright Budou, you can open your eyes now."

When Budou opens her eyes, she spots Okuu sprawled in the center of the crater with half of her shirt ripped, her skirt gone, her pink panties cut from the left but remaining in place, somehow, her control rod lodged on her head, and her eyes are spinning in place while she drools.

Budou shivers as she turns her sight to the still-smiling shrine maiden, then nervously asks "m-ma-mama? Wh-what did you do to her? I-is she going to be a-alright?"

Sanae opens her arms, welcoming Budou to her, then says "it's alright. She'll be fine. And if my miracle worked on her tiny brain, she'll be a bit wiser in the future."

Budou whimpers as she gets closer to Sanae, who hugs her warmly and says "let's move along now."

Just before speeding away, Reimu, Marisa and Orin reach Sanae, and Reimu exclaims "what the HELL? You beat Okuu by yourself?"

Orin screams "Okuu! What has that monster miko done to you?", then dives down to aid her friend.

Marisa scratches her head under the left side of her hat, then asks "so... that's what you're doing to Ail, right?"

Sanae smiles and shakes her head, then says "nope. It's going to be MUCH worse, I promise you that."

Budou shrieks and tries to escape Sanae's grasp, while shouting "SAVE ME!", but Sanae hugs the bat youkai tenderly, keeping her from escaping, and says "come on. Time to give your papa a lesson he'll never forget."

Reimu and Marisa stare at each other, sweat with fear, then Marisa asks "so... we're going to stage five?"

Reimu sighs, relaxes, shrugs, and says "looks like it. Come on.", then flies after Sanae and Budou, followed closely by Marisa.

* * *

The girls reach the Garden of the Sun relatively quickly, and are immediately attacked by the sunflower fairies that live there.

Budou has calmed down slightly, but is not helping Sanae speed through the stage like before, and is still hoping to find a way to escape, while Sanae is busying herself with shooting down fairies, but the maiden keeps holding her tightly.

Reimu and Marisa have finally caught up, and are flying beside Sanae, and, of course, are taking down their share of fairies and spirits as well.

Midway through the Garden, Reimu breaks the awkward silence when she asks "hey, Sanae, can I hold Budou for you for a while?"

Sanae continues flying forward, as though she didn't even hear Reimu, then Budou whimpers and says "mama, please, I wanna stretch my wings!"

Sanae sighs with annoyance, then says "fine. Just behave with your Hakurei sis."

When that right arm unwraps from the bat youkai's waist, Budou stretches her wings and sighs with relief, and quickly takes Reimu's right side and whispers "thanks, Hakurei sis."

Reimu flips her right thumb up and winks at the little youkai, and now, the tension around them seems to have lifted.

Sanae suddenly groans, then says "bah, another nosey meddler!"

Marisa exclaims "heads up! Stage five boss' up ahead."

Up ahead is a strange figure with a coned top, and a bottom that looks like a shrimps' tail.

Reimu squints her eyes to get a better look, then says "wait a minute, that's not Yuka."

They stop when they are close enough to see this figure clearly. She has long green hair, green eyes, and wears a coned blue hat with a yellow sun and moon motif, a blue cape with white borders, a blue shirt with long white sleeves, a yellow ribbon around her collar, has a bluish-white ghostly tail, and holds a golden crescent moon staff.

Mima, the seemingly-evil magician spirit, is the fifth stage boss, and smiling dearly at the girls, she waves her hand in the air and says "well, hi, hi! It seems you're here earlier than I expected, but that's even better. We'll get to have lunch even sooner!"

Marisa gasps and exclaims "Mima sama, what are you doing?"

Mima giggles, then says "Ail is doing something pretty dumb back there, so I decided to help him by slowing you girls down. But playing by the rules is a bit boring, so..."

Mima twirls her staff and points it at Sanae, then, not only does she grant the girls five extra bombs on the right-side grid, she also fills their extra-lives to the maximum.

Once she's done, before Reimu can ask, Mima says "now, you two maidens go on ahead and stop that idiot. Marisa, I am going to give you a little test, so get ready."

Marisa twitches, gulps, then asks "wait, now? A test? What for?"

Mima smiles, winks, then says "I just want to see how much you grew from your experience in that cave. No biggie."

Memories of that messed up cave rush in front of Marisa's mind, beads of sweat appear on hear forehead, and after she gulps her heavily-beating heart down her throat again, she nods and whimper "okay."

Budou takes the chance and says "um... I-I'm staying! I, er... wanna watch. Is that ok, mama?"

Sanae sighs, looks at Mima, the evil spirit giggles and says "I'll make sure she stays safe.", then the maiden gives up and says "alright, but don't get in their way."

Budou salutes Sanae and exclaims "I'll be good!"

Reimu chuckles, pat's Sanae's right shoulder, then takes the lead while saying "come on. The Nameless Hill and Ail are up ahead."

After Reimu and Sanae are out of sight, Budou expels her held-up air, then says "thank you so much, mommy number two. Mama Sanny is acting very scary today."

Blood trickles down Mima's nose as she smiles contently, and says "that's alright sweetie. Now be a good girl and stay behind me. You'll get a great view, and I'll be able to keep you safe."

Budou salutes Mima and quickly flies above the battlefield behind Mima.

Marisa feels a bit more relaxed, and smiles more confidently while facing her old magic tutor, and with confidence in her voice, she says "alright Mima-sama. I'll hit you with everything I got, so don't say I didn't warn you!"

Mima's smile becomes slightly sinister, then she replies "that's my girl. Now come at me!"

* * *

Marisa remains floating in place, while Mima prepares to rush her, but before they are off, Mima loudly says "oh, and one more thing. Every spell card you use, I will use. Now off you go!", and after that, Mima and Marisa start flying in circles around the large sunflower field while showering each other with lasers, sparks, stars, and all kinds of bullets and small spells they can think of.

Budou's eyes move fast to manage and keep up with the two magicians and their spells, then her eyes lock upon the sight of a large barrier underneath the girls, obviously protecting the sunflowers below them, for an obvious reason, even to the little bat youkai.

But that's not important right now.

Right now, what is important, is those two magicians zipping left, right, up and down, while showering each other continuous magic attacks.

Marisa has to lean on her broom while rising slightly, in order to avoid an icicle from bellow, and a laser from above.

When she spots three more lasers headed her way, and seeing no hopes of escape, she raises a spell card on her right hand, and shouts "Ritual Sign, Orreries Sun!"

To the witch's surprise, after the four colorful orbs appear around her, and dissolve the attacks headed her way, she notices Mima has cast the very same spell, though she didn't hear her casting it.

Mima giggles at the sight of Marisa's confused and surprise face, then says "I told you. Every spell card you use, I will use."

Marisa smiles and chuckles, quickly understanding Mima's meaning, then fires a small beam from the palm of her hand, causing four more beams to shoot right out of the orbs.

Mima replies the attack with blue miniature stars that shower from both her hands and the four orbs around her, overwhelming the witch, and forcing her to move, thus miss her mark miserably.

Mima giggles after moving slightly to the left to avoid one of the beams, then says "you are still focusing too much on power. Vary your spell a bit, or you're just leaving yourself open for attack."

Marisa grins, closes her eyes, the intensity of her beams diminish a bit, but the orbs around her start moving clockwise, causing the beams to move around and catch Mima off-guard, making her move and snake around the moving beams.

Marisa smiles and says "I have learned a few new tricks. Allow me to show you.", then the orbs take the front, and while two start spinning diagonally, the other two seem to be homing Mima's movement.

The supposedly evil spirit laughs when her countless stars get consumed by Marisa's laser, which serve as a great shield on the front, but Mima can see a huge opening, so she flies higher, shoots a barrage of at least a hundred stars, then dives back down to distract Marisa and her homing lasers.

Mima grins while shooting more of those stars at Marisa, at the same time as moving like a snake in the air to avoid the five lasers, but the stars she shot from above are slowly making their way to the witch, so it's just a matter of time.

Right as the wave of stars are inches away from the witch, Marisa stops her lasers, dives down, surrounds herself and her orbs with magic, then tries to tackle Mima right out of the air.

The spirit is almost caught off guard because of the surprise, but she manages fly up high just in time, but in doing so, she cancels the spell.

As the spell card bonus appears over the field, Mima chuckles and says "well done, my little girl."

Marisa smirks, cancels her spell, aims her broom at Mima, then asks "one more?"

Mima nods, then says "but I'm not holding back this time."

Marisa chuckles, then says "heh, excuses. Fine, whatever. Let's just have some more fun."

Mima smiles wickedly, and as she descends to meet Marisa, she tightens the grip on her staff, then suddenly lunges forward, swinging her staff sideways, and forcing Marisa to use the front of her broom to deflect the attack.

* * *

Deflecting that attack costs Marisa dearly; the impact pushes her back and leaves her spinning in mid-air for a few seconds, giving Mima more than enough time to set up eight red orbs around the witch that simultaneously release eight red beams that also bounce off the rectangular walls.

After recovering, Marisa only has one second to make a move and escape, and with luck on her side, she finds an opening between three laser beams below one of the orbs, so she takes the chance to fly through it, and escapes the constricting net of lasers.

Once free, and while still flying away from the attack, Marisa mutters an incantation, and she's suddenly surrounded by three blue orbs that shoot large icicles at a rapid pace.

She turns around to face Mima, only to face a shower of flickering stars she knows damned well will explode if they make contact, so she drops from her broom and holds it like a bar, swings forward once, then lands back on her broom right after flying through Mima's exploding stars.

The spirit is several feet away from the witch, smiling while saying "well, I never expected a magician to move like that. No matter, I can still beat you, girlie."

Marisa starts shooting her icicles at Mima without stop, and while Mima swirls in the air, Marisa says "that's a pretty big claim there, lady. I'm going to have to take you down now."

Mima merely giggles while dodging Marisa's straight attack, which annoys Marisa into using her next spell card.

The witch raises her spell card and shouts "Star Sign, Meteoric Shower!"

Though Marisa shoots the rain of stars in a straight line, she has learned to make the stars dance around each other.

Mima looks a bit surprised, points at the incoming attack, then says "oh, a bit of an improvement I see.", and then she notices how her old apprentice is struggling to keep focused on the attack, and smirks.

Without declaring the spell, Mima shoots the same shower star shower as Marisa, except her start shine much more brightly, and instead of merely dancing between each other, the stars rapidly spin in pairs, and to add insult to injury, when they meet with Marisa's star, they eat right through three of those, then explode with such force, they take out at least five more stars.

Marisa gasps with surprise when she hears the explosions, losing her concentration, her stars stop dancing and start moving in straight lines once more, and when she see's Mima's own stars, she sighs.

She realizes Mima has been playing with her all this time, and that knowledge makes her heart beat painfully hard, but she doesn't want to give up.

She sneaks her Hakkero from the pocket in her skirt, aims it toward Mima, then the spirit winks at her, shakes her right finger, and playfully says "nah-ah. No breaking the rules. And here I thought you were smarter than that."

Marisa looks over her head and realizes she has been entirely surrounded by Mima's stars, but instead of losing herself, Marisa just smiles, chuckles, cancels her spell, shrugs, and says "darn. And here I thought I could beat my former master."

Budou watches from above as several stars explode right on top of Marisa, but instead of covering her eyes, as she usually would, she _oohs_ and marvels at the sight with a smile, especially when the explosions become colorful fireworks.

Mima flies to Budou's right, grabs hold of the little bat, and while she rubs the little one's head, she happily says "glad you liked them. They will be exploding for a while, so why don't we stay here and watch."

Budou giggles, looks up at Mima, then says "alright. This is much better than what mama's going to do to papa anyway."

Mima looks down at the little girl with surprise, but quickly giggles and resumes scratching Budou's head.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sanae and Reimu reach the Nameless Hill, and both squint their eyes to try and make out what the hell they are looking at up ahead.

It looks like a massive platform with rising antennas, but the light from the sun prevents them from seeing exactly what it is.

Behind it, they can make out the large field of poisonous purple flowers surrounded by a rocky formation.

Reimu sighs as she relaxes her sight, then says "well, it seems he's actually doing something bad, and not another stupid snowman."

Sanae shoots a few fairies in front of them, chuckles, and with an ominous aura around her, she says "oh, you can bet your ass he did something bad. And he's going to pay!"

The girls suddenly stop and look forward with the look of intense horror and shock on their faces.

Now that they are closer to that large thing, they realize that it's just a giant basket made of hay and wood.

While the girls stare with their mouths open and their eyes frozen in shock, a boy reveals himself and says "ah, Reimu, I knew you'd eventually come. And Sanae... I'm not going easy on you."

He has slightly unkempt, short brown hair, brownish-yellow eyes, and wears a simple purple shirt, black pants with many pockets that reaches his calves, white socks, brown boots, has a golden bracelet with a green gem on his right wrist, and has a light-brown cloak over his shoulders.

Anilan Inmodo Leuch; or Ail, as his friends know him; the infinitely dense-wise half-youkai, hovers menacingly in front of the maiden girls, reads his name and title, then says "jeez, I'm not THAT dense... am I?"

Reimu points at Ail, stammers a bit, then angrily asks "w-w-what the hell? Ail, is that a..."

Ail smiles proudly as he crosses his arms across his chest, then nods and says "oh yeah. A giant basket! And with it, Aya's giant chikuwa will be MINE!"

Both maiden's eyes are now hidden under their hair, and both are shivering while clenching their fists tight, then Reimu asks "you threaten the border just for THAT?", and Sanae asks "you risked Budou's safety for that CRAP?"

Ail's entire being becomes a mass of shivering gelatin when Sanae reveals her furious, demonic, glowing eyes, and bloody crescent smile, then whimpers "um... I'm going now", and flies away.

Sanae immediately gives chase, shouting "I'm going to kill you, so GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT! COME BACK, I say!"

Ail shouts back "are you MAD, WOMAN? I'm not stupid!"

Reimu flies after both of them, shouting "wait! Sanae, stop! WAIT FOR ME! I want to kill him too! For goodness' sake, he even got Okuu involved!"

Reimu finally catches up to Ail and Sanae, who have fallen inside the giant basket, and watches as Sanae, literally, ties Ail's arms and legs behind his back, while smacking him on the head with her gohei, kicking him on the ribs with her right foot, and after all that, she starts jumping on his back, making sure to stomp him hard with every fall.

Reimu feels satisfied after seeing all that, but suddenly snaps her fingers and shouts "Sanae! Sanae, come up here! I think he learned his lesson already."

Sanae looks up at Reimu, nods, flies up, but before going too far, she turns around, lifts a spell card and shouts "Miracle, Mid-Day Supernova!", and unleashes a hellish white spear barrage on Ail's incapacitated body.

Feeling great relief from doing that, and from seeing Ail's body burned, and his clothe torn, Sanae sighs contently, turns around, then asks "what is it Reimu?"

Sanae's name, along with the title "self-centered, raging, jealous girlfriend", appears in front of her, written in gradient purple and gold, then Sanae looks at Reimu, frowns, then says "what's the meaning of this! I'm not self-centered!"

Reimu chuckles, points at Sanae with her gohei, then says "the titles never lie, miss stage 6 boss."

The sudden realization hits Sanae so hard, her eyes shrink to two tiny white dots from the shock, then gulps, and in a high-pitched tone of voice, she says "and I already used a spell card."

Reimu smiles, nods, then commands "alright Sanae, come, and let's see if you truly have improved!"

Sanae recovers from the shock, raises her gohei sideway in front of her face, and with a confident smile, she says "I won't lose to you again, Reimu! Get ready to lose!"

* * *

Reimu quickly showers Sanae with charms and homing amulets, and although Sanae's own charms shower counter Reimu's quite well, her blue stars can't home in on anything, but they still provide protection against homing Reimu's amulets.

Reimu and Sanae start flying around each other while showering each other with charms, amulets, holy stars, and whenever they get close to each other, they use their gohei like swords.

Reimu moves too fast and nimbly, and constantly confuses Sanae and manages a few hits with her charms, but Sanae's control over the winds saves her butt form a quick defeat, and can occasionally push Reimu away, but she has yet to touch the red-and-white maiden with an attack.

Reimu laughs while shooting more charms, and after she hits Sanae's back with one, she says "gee, and here I thought you weren't going to lose to me. Just give up already so I can go to the extra stage."

Sanae growls furiously, flies away from Reimu, and with tears of rage on her face, the points at the red and white, and shouts "you are just hacking the game! That's the only reason I'm losing!"

Reimu waves her hand under her nose, looks away while letting Sanae see her mischievous half smile, then says "nobody likes a sore loser, Sanae. Tell you what. If you hit me once, I'll let you keep Ail. Deal?"

Sanae's face turns furious red, she flaps her arms in the air, and furiously shouts "you sick, perverted, lustful, red and white, armpit-showing maiden! He doesn't belong to you!"

Reimu looks annoyed at Sanae, and with an ominous look on her face, and in an equally ominous tone of voice, she asks "who's the armpit-showing pervert here, I wonder?"

Sanae raises a spell card and rapidly shouts "Frog Sign, Wily Toad!"

The vibrations emanated by Sanae as she charges up her spell are so violent, Reimu feels her insides rumbling along with the ground below them, but to her lucky amusement, she watches as the basket crumbles on top of the dazed Ail, and says "well, at least that's resolved."

Once Sanae is done gathering energy, she quickly unleashes it all with a powerful bang, going as far as pushing Reimu back a bit, and in the wake of the bright shockwave, countless frogs take the skies.

Reimu smiles and quickly covers herself in a round blue barrier that protects her from the frogs, which explode and unleash a shower of blue shard-bullets, then proceeds to punish Sanae with repeated charm shots on the abdomen, and ample chest; particularly on her ample chest.

Sanae is getting more agitated, her clothes are tearing up, her spell has intensified after the third wave, but Reimu is still flying about completely unscathed.

Trembling, Sanae says to herself "this is getting me nowhere. Fine, I'll change the spell a bit, and focus all the power on Reimu's next position. Bah, but she keeps moving around so much. Focus, Sanae. FOCUS!"

Reimu stares suspiciously at Sanae, as the green-haired maiden starts gathering her energy and seems to aim it at a precise focused point, then Sanae looks up at Reimu, smiles, and Aya comes down from the sky and rams her sandal's sole on Sanae's head, and sends the green-haired shrine maiden falling down after a hard explosion.

Looking as clueless as ever, Aya looks at Reimu and asks "hey, weren't you supposed to be fighting Ail?"

Though surprised, Reimu nods and calmly asks "sure, but how did you know?"

Aya smiles and says "I told the idiot I'd make giant chikuwa for him, if he made a giant basket. I WAS supposed to be here to cover the story for tomorrow's paper, but the maid kicked my butt way to hard for my own good, so I took a while to recover, and-"

Reimu is staring straight at the crow tengu, showing absolutely no emotion, and yet, Aya's instincts tell her she has to run away... **NOW**!

Just as Aya turns around to fly away, Reimu's hand somehow finds itself on the tengu's shoulder, and while holding the trembling, whimpering girl from escaping, Reimu asks "so it is thanks to you that I was dragged all the way out here? Not only that, but dragged all the way out here for one PATHETIC excuse for an incident?"

Aya can only smile and chuckle, knowing full-well the hell that's about to fall upon her head in the form of a gohei, and as said gohei strikes the crow tengu, a powerful explosion rocks the entire hill.

* * *

Moments later, Ail, Sanae and Aya start to recover, though being so close to the large field of poisonous flowers behind them, doesn't help them recover any faster.

Sanae's clothes are torn, especially around the chest, where Reimu focused her attacks, Ail's pants are missing the left-side leg, and his shirt has a large tear on the front.

Aya has very few tears around her shirt, but the bloody bump on her head proves that there is a reason she's down.

Above them are Reimu, Mima, the banged-up Marisa and Budou, looking down on the three downed friends, but Mima quickly covers Budou's eyes when Sanae and Ail get a better look at each other, admire their torn clothes, then lock lips and hold on tight, regardless of the crowd.

A large yellow amulet explodes right between the two love-birds, then Reimu angrily says "you two are disgusting. Get a room! Now, Ail, last time you got Yorihime Watatsuki of to Moon to play as the extra boss. Who did you get for me this time?"

Marisa quickly exclaims "hey, I only lost one life! I'm going with you!"

Reimu groans and face palms, then turns her face to Ail, who twitches at Reimu's murderous glare,, stops kissing Sanae, then says "um, er, that is... Um, I asked Toyohime to play along today."

In an instant, Reimu has Ail by the collar of his shirt with her left hand, and repeatedly slaps him across the face with her right hand, while shouting "first that overpowered birdbrain, and now a lunatic Lunarian? Ail, I am going to kill you when I get back, and I'm not kidding!"

She drops the now-dazed Ail next to Sanae, who happily takes his head and rests it on her lap, then Reimu flies toward the Youkai Mountain and says "come on Marisa. She's close to the Tengu Village!"

Both Aya and Marisa ask at the same time "how do you know?"

Reimu points at the large, neon-red sign over the Youkai Mountain that reads "Lunarians are Here", then says "come on. The faster we do this, the faster I can go eat some lunch. I'm getting hungry! Oh, and Sanae, you can keep that thing for yourself. He's just too dense, and quite the idiot."

After Reimu and Marisa leave, Budou asks "mommy two, why are you covering my eyes?"

Mima giggles, then says "whoops. Sorry sweetie. Your mama and papa were being stupid, but now they are fine."

After Mima uncovers the little bat youkai's eyes, Budou dives toward her parents and sits on top of Ail's chest, and giggles while Sanae and Ail rub her head.

Mima sniffles at the sight of Ail, Sanae and Budou together, pouts, then says "those two are so lucky to have an adorable little girl like her."

* * *

Marisa and Reimu find themselves inside the rectangular screen with the right-side grid once again, though, instead of having the lives from before, they are down to just tree each, and two bombs for both.

Neither seem too bothered by this.

Instead of a trail of fairies, these two sadistic girls now leave a trail of moon rabbits sprawled all over the ground, but the knocking of rabbis is not just out of sadistic nature, but out of defense.

These little rabbits are shooting at the witch and the maiden as though they are at war in the Moon, but it's no good for them, as Reimu and Marisa are using their best attacks; Reimu's divine needles, and Marisa's piercing, spinning lasers; and are knocking those rabbits out before they can react.

Suddenly, a moon rabbit with short, light-blue hair, floppy white ears, red eyes, and wearing a black suit shirt, a short pink skirt, and brown shoes, flies in front of the girls, aims a rifle at them, then says "sorry ladies, but I'm going to have to kill you n- KYAH!"

Reimu and Marisa smiles mischievously after having blasted the lone moon rabbit right out of the sky, then Reimu says "hey, I think I know her."

Marisa chuckles and says "no you don't. Lying is bad for maiden, you know."

The girls continue their fly until they finally reach the foot of the mountain, and there, admiring the scenery around herself, while floating in mid-air for some odd reason, is Toyohime Watatsuki, the peach-loving, exercise-hating ex-princess.

She has slightly-curly, long, sandy-blonde hair, golden eyes, and wears a white bonnet with a red ribbon, a white, long-sleeved shirt under a dark-blue dress with a single strap over the left shoulder, a brown lose belt with a golden mirror-shaped buckle, and a pair of cross-laced, brown calf-high boots.

Toyohime turns around with a bubbly smile on her face, giggles, then says "so you beat him. I warned him not to do something so stupid. Anyway, hi, how are you?"

Reimu chuckles nervously, then says "the moon princess. Say, don't you know you're supposed to say 'hi' at the beginning of your greeting? Oh, and hi."

Marisa chuckles naturally, then says "come on ladies. Let's cut the chatter and go straight to the fight!"

Toyohime giggles, twirls in place, and now holds a closed white hand-fan on her right hand, and says "alright. Let's have some fun, alright? Don't hold back, though~."

* * *

Toyohime starts her attack by twirling on one foot in mid-air, and by doing so she unleashes a crazy barrage of random, multi-colored bullets that fly fast toward Reimu and Marisa.

The girls barely avoid the barrage of bullets, getting grazed on the shoulder, abdomen, legs, and Marisa even gets grazed on her left cheek.

But the girls are not going to take that sitting down, or floating, in this case, and begin their own rapid-fire assault on Toyohime, Marisa switching her lasers for rapid green spikes.

Toyohime shrieks and stops dancing when several needles and magical spikes tear through her clothes, leaving her belly exposed, and while trying to cover herself up with her hands, she whimpers "hey, that was mean!"

She stops covering herself, picks a spell card from under her bonnet, then says "fine! An eye for an eye! Splashing Mountains Crash!"

Yellow shard-shaped bullets form up what look like two massive mountains on the left and right, while in between those, a stream of blue orbs flow toward Toyohime, though do not cause her harm.

Marisa and Reimu are already having great difficulty dodging the fast water bullets that come from behind, and wonder what are the earth bullets doing on the sides.

Toyohime gestures her arms apart for a moment, then crosses them in front of herself, and both danmaku mountains come crashing together, causing a tsunami of water and earth bullets to rain down with haste toward Reimu and Marisa.

The girls scream and panic at the sight; not only they have the water bullets from behind, but now they have that insane cluster of bullets in front, and they are moving fast.

In a desperate move, Reimu shouts "Marisa, ride the wind! Spirit Sign, Fantasy Orb!"

Marisa grins when Reimu casts her homing spell, and flies behind the green orb that eats away the water and earth bullets, and flies straight toward Toyohime.

Before the Lunarian realizes what their plan is, Marisa tackles the girl from the side, canceling the chaotic spell, and making the ex-princess spin fast in mid-air.

Marisa regroups with Reimu and high-fives with the maiden, then Toyohime recovers from her spin, holds the left side of her waist and shouts "ow, ow, ow, ow, that hurts! Owww~!"

After complaining a bit more about the pain, she suddenly stops, pulls another spell card from under her bonnet, then points her closed fan at the girls and shouts "the game isn't over yet! COME ON!"

The witch grins, and the maiden takes a defensive stance, then Toyohime raises her spell card and shouts "Explosion, Chaotic Rush!"

With her fan closed, Toyohime claps her hands together and unleashes a massive and random-moving barrage of multi-colored orbs, petals, spears, and star-shaped bullets from all around her, and while the fast danmaku flies toward the girls, Toyohime raises her left hand and shoots homing white orbs that go after Reimu.

The hellish bullet rain is far worse than Flandre's Starbow Break, and with the addition of those homing bullets, it gets even more confusing for the girls.

Marisa raises a spell card, but before she can declare her spell, a green orb smacks her face, at the same time as Reimu gets struck on the abdomen by one of the homing white bullets.

Both girls return to the field, both missing large chunks of clothes.

They flicker for a while, and take the chance to pick their dropped red "P" tabs, growl as they glare at Toyohime, then the grid, lives, life bar, score, and the rectangular screen shatter to pieces.

A girl with shoulder-length pink hair tied with chinese-style double buns, red eyes, and wearing a white shirt, a green skirt, a brown panel with a thorny vine motif on top of those, a rose brooch, a pair of black slip-on shoes, a shackle on her left wrist, and with her right arm completely wrapped in bandages, jumps toward Toyohime, punches her head, and knocks her down.

After the Lunarian is down and out, and Kasen Ibara, the nagging hermit, starts falling to the ground, she looks at Reimu and Marisa, waves her right hand at them, and says "hey, glad to see you guys! Say, could you come down here? I have something to show you."

Marisa and Reimu watch as Kasen falls back down to the ground, and unlike Marisa, Reimu looks more annoyed then surprised as she descends and says "let's check this out before she starts nagging again."

* * *

On the ground, at the foot of the mountain, the girls stand close to some trees behind them, where Toyohime has fallen.

They ignore the Lunarian's moans and calls for help as they look at Kasen, who seems a little edgy, and not because of the many peeping Kappa to the right, where the river is.

Reimu takes a step toward Kasen and asks "what's so important that you actually had to break up our battle in such style?"

Kasen closes her eyes, breathes in, then says "last night, this bright star fell in the front yard of my dojo, but it was strange. The only reason I noticed it was because it was glowing so brightly."

Marisa gives some thought before asking "so, wait... You saying it made no sound? Not even when it crashed right in front of your house?"

Kasen nods, then says "there was no crater either. When I went down to investigate the glow... I found this young man standing right in front of my doors."

Kasen takes a step to the left, and points with her hand behind herself at a boy with dark-brown spiky hair, brown eyes, and who wears a dirty-looking, and tattered brown, sleeveless vest over a simple white shirt, long black pants, a pair of thick brown boots, and held by a brown belt that goes over his right shoulder, he has a western broadsword with a golden hilt on his back.

Reimu feels strange when she looks at this boy, and as soon as she realizes it's his energy vibration, she adjusts her own to stop the dizzy feeling.

Marisa obviously has to do the same, but she does so after almost falling on her knees, and while rubbing the left side of her forehead with her hand.

Kasen sighs, then says "the same thing happened to me when I first met him. This is no ordinary fellow."

Reimu nods, then says "I can see why you summoned us here."

Kasen shakes her head, then says "oh no, if it were just for that, I'd have just taken him to the village. He doesn't seem like a bad fellow. No, the reason I wanted you to come and meet him, is because, he doesn't understand a word I say to him, and I can't understand his language either."

Reimu, Marisa, and now Toyohime, who has quietly joined the girls, stare at the mysterious boy, who looks back at them with an alarmed look, making sure to keep his distance from these girls, while at the same time, doing his best to look as calm as possible.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, and the "mysterious boy" were created by Willie G.R.

Maribel's, Renko's, and Toyohime's spell cards were created by Willie G.R. (similarities are strictly coincidental)

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

APR 01 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hello again. First off, sorry I couldn't add more Leon and Lina mishaps with Patchouli and Koakuma. I wanted to do at least one scene, but the "game" scenes took a LOT more than I thought they would. Originally, I was going to have Orin, Okuu and Mima knocked out by one raging Sanae, but I decided not to make it so "fast-paced", and I liked what came out of it. Especially that battle between Mima and Marisa. Another thing I wanted to do, was add one more character, but I think I've presented PLENTY of characters for one chapter, don't you agree? Still, the chapter took a bit longer than I thought, and it came out longer than I had hoped, and I do hope it wasn't a drag to read. I also kept the battles rather short for that reason too. I mean, having full game-type battles would have taking two or three chapters to write, and I didn't want that, and honestly, I am not fond of extending battles without need.**

**Oh, and about that character, the mysterious boy. Well, I WISH I could say more about him now, I mean, I was hoping to tell more about him in this chapter, but it was just not possible. I will give you more details of him on the next chapter, if everything goes well. Thank you for reading. See you next time.**

**Before I forget, for those interested, I have posted the first 3 chapters for a Touhou/Kingdom Hearts crossover, named "Spell Cards and Keyblades"  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

**Understand that the "mysterious boy" doesn't understand Japanese, so in order to show this to you, I have added Japanese text inside parenthesis in order to manage to make this a little more credible. I used Google translate to do this, so please excuse the many errors you might/will find in the translations. (A friend was kind enough to help me correct some things, but again, do NOT expect perfection) I also made Suzaku's dialogues in italic to show that she is speaking through telepathy, in order to avoid further confusion as to how she speaks. In the end, this is all for the sake of fun, so please keep this in mind while reading.**

* * *

It's half-past two, when Reimu, Marisa, with Kasen on her broom, and Toyohime, carrying that strange boy by his arms, reach the Hakurei Shrine.

They remain hovering several feet in the air to look at Rika while she sweeps some dust from the path in front of the donation box, Suzaku a few feet in front of the maid, flapping her wings to the right, and blowing some stray leaves back toward the trees and bushes, and Tenshi sweeping leaves from the roof of the main shrine.

After admiring this from the sky, Reimu exclaims "what the hell? Tenshi is cleaning?"

Tenshi spots Reimu and her guests, kicks up hard to fly up and meet them, and before Reimu has the chance to speak, Tenshi says "Reimu, something's wrong with Rika, but she won't say what."

Reimu stares at the celestial with shock on her face, then asks "something... wrong? With Rika?"

Tenshi shushes Reimu, then whispers "keep it down. I'm trying to figure this out too, but she just shoots that smile and says '_everything's fine_', and clearly, things are NOT fine!"

Marisa gets closer, and asks "how can you tell?"

Tenshi points at Rika, then says "she's been sweeping that same spot for over an hour."

Everyone stares at the maid, observe closely how she is sweeping the stone path, and the dust she sweeps is actually particles from the stone and the broom's bristles.

Kasen sighs, then says "see, this is what happens when someone as nice, neat, and proper like her is stuck with someone like this shrine maiden."

A yin-yang orb falls from the sky and lands on top of Kasen's head, and as Kasen holds on to Marisa to prevent herself from falling, Reimu grumbles "you're crossing that line."

Toyohime flies toward Reimu, easily raises the boy, then asks "hey, aren't we supposed to be helping this one out?"

Reimu face palms and sighs, then says "right, right. I almost forgot."

Tenshi stares at the boy, points directly at his face, then asks "and who is this one?", and suddenly squints her eyes, gets a better look, then whispers "wait... there's something about him."

The boy silently stares back at Tenshi, doing his best to show absolutely no emotion, but his face suddenly changes when he gasps with surprise and says "celestial!"

The girls all look at each other with confusion, all asking each other if they understood, and now the boy looks around himself with a bit of worry present in his eyes, unsure of what these girls are talking about.

* * *

Inside the shrine's living house, Tenshi, Toyohime and Marisa enjoy a dish with cake and cookies, along a mug of tea each, while sitting next to the small table near the left-side entrance.

Kasen enjoys her own serving of tea while standing to the right of the boy, and Reimu, with Suzaku on her right shoulder, is in the kitchen, trying to convince Rika to speak up her mind.

Rika is cleaning the counters with a lost look in her eyes, as though thinking too hard, while Reimu stands right behind her, saying "Rika, don't make me force you! Tell me what's wrong already!"

Rika stops her cleaning, turns around to look at Reimu, lightly bows her head, then smiles and says "I-I already told you m...my lady. Th-there's nothing wrong with me."

As she says this, her hands shiver for a brief moment, her eyes constantly turn away from the shrine maiden, and her voice seems to crack for a fraction of a second.

Reimu sighs; she knows forcing the matter will do no good, so she just smiles bitterly, then says "alright, don't tell me anything. Just remember that you can count on me, and whenever you're ready to tell me, I will be right here."

Rika turns her sight to the already clean countertop, and as if acting subconsciously, she nods in assent.

Reimu walks over to the mysterious boy, and as she does, she thinks "what could have happened to her? She's not smiling, not humming, her wings look all droopy and... she won't listen to me."

Suzaku telepathically replies "_I'm not sure. She was filling her mind with foolish thoughts about food earlier, so I'm not really sure._"

After approaching the boy, Reimu looks at Suzaku and thinks "well, better give her some space. Now I need to focus on our odd visitor."

Suzaku flies toward her perch, while saying to Reimu "_he's western._"

Reimu exclaims "he's western? Dammit, I'm going to need help!" (彼は西からですか？くそー、私はいくつかの助けが必要になりますね！)

Suzaku casually flies out the shrine, while saying "I'm on it!" (まかせて！), for everyone in the room to hear.

Marisa looks curiously at Reimu, then asks "so that's why we can't understand him. And here I thought he was just trying to get the attention of us gorgeous girls." (それは我々が彼のことを理解できない理由です。そして、ここで私は彼が美しい女の子たちの注目を取得しようとしていると思いました。)

Reimu places her hand on her chest and says "why thank you." (ありがとう。)

Marisa chuckles and replies "I hate to admit it, but your bloomers are the cutest." (結局のところ、あなたのブルマはかわいい。)

A charm flies straight on to Marisa's face, shocks her, and after the witch drops unconscious on her back, the girls and the boy look at Reimu with fright, then Kasen asks "why can't you be a bit more gracious?" (なぜあなたはもう少し親切なことはできますか？)

Reimu replies by asking "why does she have to be such a pervert?" (なぜ彼女はこのような変態する必要がありますか？)

Kasen casually shrugs, while the boy looks infinitely confused at his hosts.

He can't understand a word they are saying, the red and white one is getting more violent by the minute, and the celestial with blue hair continues to stare at him.

All he can do now is trust his hosts, and hope for the best, and he manages to calm himself down when he remembers the sword on his back.

If anything, he is sure he can fend off any attempts on his life.

Meanwhile, Tenshi stares at him with interest, unblinking while thinking "what is a western deity doing all the way over here?"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the very same time, over at the scarlet Devil Mansion's library, Patchouli sits on her desk with her left elbow next to an open book, and rests her head on her left hand while trying to read.

She has an undeniably annoyed look on her face, even as she flips to the next page.

She suddenly grits her teeth and softly snarls, then flips to the next page.

Koakuma, on the other hand, looks frightened as she moves around the library, using the bookshelves to cover her back, and a mirror to look through corners while moving around.

Up above are Remilia and Lina, who flies to the right of the amused, smiling vampire.

If Remilia's face was more stretchy, her smile could easily reach all the way over her head.

Lina spots Koakuma to the right side of the large library, then whispers "can I move now?"

Remilia whispers back "patience. You'll know when to strike. This knowledge runs in the blood of all predators, my pretty."

Lina sighs impatiently, but steels herself to stay beside the Queen of the Night, and watches as the little devil slowly makes her way toward the exit.

On the desk, Patchouli suddenly slams both fists on the desktop and shouts "could you please stop touching my **LEGS**?"

Underneath the desk, Leon's voice sounds a bit muffled as he replies "but they're so soft, and perfect, and warm. I want to touch them more~!"

Patchouli suddenly springs up, snarls furiously, then kicks her left leg, making a loud thud on the underside of the desk.

She turns away from the desk, open her right eye as she slightly turns her head to look toward said desk, then coldly says "you stay there, rubbing your damned, thick head, you little pervert! I'm going elsewhere!"

Leon peeks his head from underneath the desk, pulls out a pair of pink bloomers with a tear on the left butt-cheek, and asks "should I keep these warm for you, my love?"

Patchouli's eyes hide under her hair, her face turns bright red, and she can't help but keep her gasping mouth wide open.

Remilia starts to laugh out so hard, Patchouli's embarrassed and raging scream is muted, and that's when Lina notices Koakuma has relaxed, then dives down toward her prey.

Koakuma is just five steps away from the door, and as she reaches for it, she speeds up her pace.

The little devil smiles when her fingers grip the elegant gold lever, and she's hug-tackled from behind by Lina, whom immediately grips the little devil's chest and exclaims "oh, my cute and sexy little pet is so soft!"

Koakuma shrieks, but her sudden outburst of cusses, curses and other variety of flowers that come from her cute little mouth, are muted by the sound of laughter from Remilia Scarlet.

The charismatic vampire laughs so hard, she forgets to flap her wings, and plunges head-first to the carpeted ground below, yet remains laughing.

Sakuya appears right on time to save her mistress, by catching her just before she crashes, then elegantly says "my lady, your snacks are ready."

Remilia somehow manages to thank Sakuya for her hard work, but cannot stop her laughter, even for a second.

Sakuya sighs, then says "I'll take you to your table, my lady.", then disappears along with Remilia on her arms in the blink of the eye, allowing some peace and quiet to reign the dark library once more.

Meanwhile, Patchouli reaches Koakuma and Lina, whom are lying on the floor next to the door, and while holding Leon prisoner inside a floating water bubble, she scowls at Koakuma and furiously asks "and where do you THINK you are going?"

Koakuma manages to push Lina off her back, stands up, salutes Patchouli, then stammers with tears on her frightened eyes while trying to come up with an excuse for her raging mistress.

Patchouli gestures her arm as though throwing something, then Leon flings out the bubble and flies on to Koakuma's arms.

Furious, Patchouli shouts "never mind! Wherever you're going, take this DAMNED thing with you so I can have some PEACE!"

Koakuma is clearly confused, but before she can even register what just happened, she finds herself on the other side of the library doors, with Leon on her arms, and Lina standing to her right.

Leon looks into Koakuma's eyes, then asks "miss Koakuma, ma'am, what is a per-vert?"

Koakuma recovers herself, stares back a Leon, blinks twice, then whimpers as she lets him drop on the ground, and asks "why do I have to babysit these two?"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu and Suzaku stand in front left-side of the shrine, right in front of the extension for the Moriya Shrine.

Suzaku flies on top of the small extension's roof, looks at Reimu, then says "_she said she'd be here in a second, mom._"

Reimu nods, but doesn't reply, and remains with her eyes fixed on the extension, until something starts vibrating within it.

Reimu smiles as she takes two steps back, and from the extension, slithering like a snake, comes Kanako Yasaka, the air-headed goddess of war, who lands on her feet right in front of the shrine maiden.

She has poofy, intense-blue hair, dark-red eyes, and wears a red shirt with long white sleeves, a dark-red skirt, tied with a rope around the waist, a pair of sandals, a round mirror around her chest, and on her head, she wears an ornamental rope with red leaves.

On her back, either floating, or as a clip-on, is an impressive circular shimenawa rope formation that has white streamers similar to the one on Reimu's gohei, hanging from it.

She smiles at the shrine maiden and asks "so, what seems to be the matter Reimu? Perhaps you are ready to devote your faith to us now?"

Reimu sighs and says "dream on. No, I need you to send Ail over here. We've got a problem, and he might just be able to help."

Kanako smiles as she looks at Reimu with great interest, then says "ooh, sounds like fun. Well, they just got here, but I'm sure Ail will come immediately."

Without waiting for Reimu's reply, the goddess zips back through the extension, then Reimu looks at Suzaku and says "come on. He'll be here any second now."

Suzaku flies toward the shrine, keeping her pace with Reimu's, and just as they reach the corner of the living house, to their left, Ail's gap opens up.

Ail jumps out of it, but his left foot gets caught inside the gap, and that's when Reimu notices he is barefoot. Before the maiden can ask, Ail looks back at the gap with a scowl, and notices Sanae holding his foot on the other side, smiling mischievously, and Budou handing her mama a big red feather.

Ail opens his eyes wide, then exclaims "Sanae, I'm serious! Don't do it! No... Sanae!"

Without showing any signs of mercy, Sanae starts tickling Ail's foot with that feather, making sure to pass it all over his foot.

The defenseless boy laughs hard, tears dangle from underneath his eyes, and he looks back and shouts "SANA-HA HA-SANAE! DA-HAHA-DAMMIT! CUT IT OUT!"

Sanae giggles, then says "alright then, now we are ALMOST even for you negligence, putting Budou through that.", but she does not stop tickling him.

Poor Ail punches the ground, laughing hard and trying to pull himself free from Sanae's grip, but it's futile.

After watching for so long, Reimu, who has her arms crossed, and Suzaku, who hovers to the maiden's right, both look at each other and nod.

Reimu gets closer to the gap, looks at Sanae, and calmly says "Sanae, I need his help now, so please let him go. I promise you can torture him some more later, after he is done here."

Sanae stops tickling him, Ail stops his desperate punching, laughing, and pleas, then the green-haired maiden pouts at Reimu and says "alright, but he better come back here immediately. I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, AIL!"

She releases Ail's foot, the gap closes up soon after he is clear, but he remains face-down on the ground while breathing through his mouth.

Reimu slightly bends her knees as she leans closer to Ail, looks at him with a bored look on her face, and when he lifts his head to look at her, Reimu smiles and says "you're welcome."

* * *

Afterward, the barefoot Ail, Reimu and Suzaku reach the left-side entrance to the shrine, right as Toyohime exits the living room.

The Lunarian looks at Ail, smiles, and exclaims "Ail, it's been a while! How are you? Oh, you look as adorable as ever! Can I keep you?"

Ail blinks three times, looks at Toyohime with shock and wonder, points at himself, then asks "um... since when do you think I'm adorable? And no, you can't keep me."

Toyohime grabs Ail's right cheek and pulls on it, while saying "aww, that's too bad! Oh well."

She releases Ail, takes flight, then says "see you guys later. I need to have my clothes fixed. And Eirin promised she'd cook dinner today. So yeah... see you later~!"

Reimu, Suzaku and Ail look at each other, then Suzaku asks Reimu "_did we just miss something?_"

Reimu shrugs, then looks at Ail and asks "are you some sort of lecher, or something?"

Ail's face turns red with both shame and fury, then he asks Reimu "you want me to leave right now?"

Reimu chuckles nervously and says "relax, relax. I was only teasing. But lately, you've been getting the attention of many girls. You should be careful."

Ail's reply is an estranged stare at both Reimu and Suzaku, but the shrine maiden discards this, turns around, grabs Ail by the hand, then pulls him inside, saying "come on! I need you to break a barrier here."

Once inside, Suzaku flies straight to her perch, looking forward to resting her tired wings after so much flapping.

Tenshi and Marisa are playing with cards on the table, but there is no sign of Rika, Kasen, or the boy in brown.

Reimu looks at the girls on the table and asks "where's Rika, and Kasen, and that western boy?"

Ail softly asks "western? Reimu, you want me to break a language barrier?"

Ignoring Ail, Reimu's attention remains on Marisa and Tenshi, and the latter sighs and says "Rika went out back, probably to hide again. Reimu, we have to help her. Maybe we should force her."

From behind Reimu, Ail says "Reimu, we need to get Yukari. I'm not good with anything other than a few gaps here and there... maybe a few barriers, but..."

Totally ignoring Ail, Reimu's attention turns to Marisa, who casually says "the hermit took the boy out back to show him a bit of the shrine, but I think she just wants some along time with him, ze."

Reimu chuckles nervously and says "I am sure that hermit isn't that much of a pervert, unlike you."

From behind Reimu, Ail asks "yoo-hoo, Reimu~! Are you even listening to me?"

The shrine maiden places her fingers around her face, closes her eyes, then says "jeez, they just won't stay in one place. And what's worse, Rika needs my attention, but I have to help this weird kid out..."

Ail pokes Reimu's right shoulder hard, to which Reimu turns around with and angrily exclaims "what? I'm trying to think!"

Ail points to the back of the shrine with his right thumb and asks "is that the guy you want me to help?"

Kasen and the strange boy stand in front of the back entrance, and the boy now has a thin blood-red bandana around his forehead, making him look fierce and annoyed, even though he is not.

Reimu returns her attention to Ail, smiles, then says "oh yes, that's the one. Eh?", and that's when she notices Ail is standing up by sheer force of will.

His entire body trembles, his face looks sickly, and seems his trembling knees are just about to lose all strength; in short, Ail looks like shit.

Reimu places her hand on his shoulder, then says "just breathe and assimilate with the energy. You'll be fine shortly."

* * *

After Ail recovers himself, Reimu stands him in front of the strange boy, and says "alright. Be a good boy, and break that language barrier." (よし。 、いい子で、その言語の壁を破る。)

Ail looks a bit annoyed; his words have failed to reach the maiden's brain yet, and she just puts him in the spotlight and asks him to do something he clearly cannot.

Ail sighs, bows his head to the boy out of courtesy, then turns his head to Reimu and says "alright, let's see if you can hear me now. Reimu Hakurei, I CANNOT break language barriers!" (大丈夫、あなたは今私を聞くことができる場合を見てみましょう。博麗霊夢、私は言葉の壁を破ることはできません！)

Reimu suddenly grabs Ail by his shoulders, turns him to her, and looking rather angry, she asks "why didn't you tell me this SOONER, you mighty morphing idiot?" (なぜあなたは私にこの早かれを言わなかった、あなたは偉大なバカモーフィング？)

With tears dangling under his eyes, and after a sniffle, Ail whimpers "you... you didn't have to go that far!" (あなた...あなたがそこまでする必要はありませんでした！)

Reimu groans, but before she says anything, Ail miraculously calms down, sighs, then says "look, just because I can break a few gaps to other worlds and through distance barriers, doesn't mean I am a master. For that... we need Yukari." (私は他の世界との距離の壁をいくつかのギャップを 破ることができるからといって、私はマスター午前わけではありません。用が...我々は紫が必要です。)

The maiden's left eye twitches twice, yet sounding calm, she says "it's always Yukari, huh. Well, it's a good thing I know just how to get her to come." (なぜそれが、ゆかりいつもねています。まあ、私は彼女が来て得るためにどれだけ知って良いことだ。)

To all of this, the boy looks more and more confused, but now he is even reaching for the sword on his back, though thanks to Kasen, whom appears to his right out of nowhere, he stops.

Kasen gestures him to calm down and lower his arms, which he reluctantly does, then she looks at Reimu and says "miss shrine maiden, please calm down. Our guest is getting a little edgy." (落ち着いてください、巫女を欠場。今回のゲストは少し神経質なっている。)

Reimu and Ail look at the boy and notice the confused glare.

Reimu covers her mouth as she gasp, then smiles and waves at the boy, while Ail bows his head apologetically.

Reimu, Kasen and Ail lean close to each other, away from the boy, then Reimu whispers "alright, I'll summon Yukari now. Kasen, make sure he stays calms. Seems he trusts you."

Kasen nods, then Reimu continues "Ail, you are staying right here until we are done. You are a man, after all."

Ail whispers back "and what does that have to do with anything?"

Kasen just taps Ail's left shoulder and smiles, while Reimu turns around to face Tenshi and Marisa, whom are now putting all their focus on a magical goldfish inside a magical bowl; probably a strange spell casted by the witch.

Ignoring these girls, Reimu closes her eyes, turns her head upward, then loudly says "oh, it's so peaceful right now. I think I'll have a cup of tea and pass the night away in peace!" (ああ、それはこのような静かな夜があります。私は平和の夜お茶とお楽しみがあると思います！)

The smartass shrine maiden counts to three with her fingers, and right after lifting her third finger, the buzzing sound of Yukari's gap takes the room, and the blonde gap youkai appears right in front of Reimu, asking "why don't you share some tea with me, sweetie?" (なぜあなたは私、甘いものとお茶を共有していないのですか？)

Reimu looks confused at Yukari and asks "wait, you're not affected?" (待って、あなたが影響を受けていないのか？)

Yukari looks curiously at Reimu, notices the trembling and snarling bandana-boy at the back, points at him with her fan, then says "oh, how exotic. You have a western boy. Seems there's a language barrier on him, though." (ああ、どのようにエキゾチックな。西部の少年を持っています。彼の上に言語の壁はしかし、あるようだ。)

Reimu stares casually at Yukari, then says "and that's why I summoned you here." (それは私がここに召喚理由です。)

Yukari stares at Reimu, blinks twice, then asks "so then... there's no tea?" (さて...ないお茶はないですか？)

* * *

At that same moment, right after the last bit of sunlight fades, and the night takes the skies, Koakuma, carrying a large brown sack over her shoulder, along with Lina, who carries her brother, Leon, by his arms, land in front of the living house and look around.

Koakuma turns to the twins and strictly says "ok, we're at the Hakurei Shrine now, so please behave, or I'll have the mistress lock you up in the young sister's room! Understood?"

Leon stands to the right, and Lina to the left, and looking serene at the little demon, they both nod in assent and simultaneously say "we will behave properly, lady Koakuma."

Koakuma scratches herself underneath her left wing and thinks "gee, if only they were this obedient and well-behaved back home."

They make their way to the open shrine doors and stop in their tracks when they see the strange boy, and feel the odd energy emanating from him.

While Koakuma starts feeling weak and begins to shiver, Yukari, whom has just made a move toward the boy, and the twins beside Koakuma, look as though nothing is happening at all.

Koakuma drops on her hands and knees, the sack she was carrying falls to her right, and she asks "wha-what is this? Why can't I... stand?"

Leon now stands to Koakuma's right, while Lina stands to her left, then both hold the little devil by her shoulders, and right as they lift her up, she feels her energy return.

She looks at the twins and their serene and caring faces, then asks "what is all this? How come I feel all better now?"

In a calm and peaceful tone of voice, Lina says "don't worry, my lovely pet."

Equally calm, Leon adds "stay with us until your body assimilates with his energy."

Koakuma stares at the twins with surprise, then watches as Yukari stares at the boy and says "alright, I'll break the barrier, but I have my own reasons to help."

Yukari looks a little agitated, even though she tries to hide it, while the boy looks like he's ready to attack, and seems both Ail and Kasen have noticed, and smile at the boy, and gesture him with their hands, as though asking him to calm down.

Reimu looks slightly tired, but she remains straight as she looks at Yukari and says "just break that barrier already."

Yukari's eyes glow golden for a brief moment, yet she smiles.

She turns around to face the boy, raises her fan on her right hand, then slowly lowers it until she's pointing at his feet. Reimu sounds a bit impatiens as she asks "so did it work?"

On the table, Tenshi and Marisa look curiously at the boy as he suddenly opens his eyes wide.

Yukari looks at him, then asks "I have lifted the language barrier, so you should be able to understand us. Now tell me, what are you doing here in Gensokyo? How did you get in here without my knowledge?"

The boy looks at Yukari in shock, then asks "how? How is it that a demon like you has such amazing powers?"

Koakuma seems to be in shock while watching, then asks the twins "what do you guys think is going on in there?"

When there's no reply, Koakuma looks around herself and asks "didn't you guys hear me?", but quickly realizes both Leon and Lina have left her side, and are now heading into the shrine.

Koakuma shrieks, springs on her feet, then shouts "wait! You can't just walk into the shrine like that!"

Reimu finally notices the visitors and says "oh great, more pests."

The boy suddenly raises his defenses and exclaims "so they are enemies? I'll destroy them for you, fair maiden!"

Ail and Kasen get in his way, while Ail exclaims "WAIT! Reimu's just like that to everyone! Just calm down already, jeez!"

Kasen adds "that's right. Smile mister, and be grateful to miss Yukari for her help! Hey, that's right. You haven't even thanked her!"

Yukari suddenly exclaims "young god, you still haven't answered my question!"

Reimu gets closer to the boy, preventing the twins from getting closer to him, then says "wait, wait! No fighting in the shrine! Wait, what? Yukari, did you just call him a god?"

From the table, Tenshi and Marisa look quite amused at the mess, then Tenshi casually says "a pretty normal night."

Marisa nods, then says "I used to be the one causing the larger messes here. I'm starting to feel left out."

* * *

Moments later, after everyone has settled down, Reimu has Koakuma and the twins kneeling by the entrance, and asks "alright, why are you here?"

Koakuma looks a bit nervous, and while looking at the floor underneath Reimu's feet, she answers "I-we came... um, came here to as Rika f-for a small favor."

Reimu rubs the back of her head as she stares at the little devil, and the curious faces on the twins beside her.

They are both looking around the shrine while awing and gasping at everything they see, including Suzaku on her perch.

Reimu sighs, narrows her eyes a bit, then says "Rika's out back, but she's not feeling so well. Right now, I got something to deal with over here, so please wait for me before going to her."

Koakuma nods, then quickly notices when the Kori twins cling on to her arms, both looking nervously toward the boy kneeling by the other side of the room.

Koakuma herself raises her four wings defensively when she notices the boy's glares are aimed at her as well, but Yukari gets in his way, sternly saying "hey, stop peeping at the sexy devil and turn your attention over here! You haven't answered my questions yet!"

It is obvious that Yukari isn't playing around, so to avoid any trouble, Reimu helps Koakuma and the twins to their feet, and says "let's avoid any trouble, so please, wait for me outside."

Koakuma nods, manages to free her arms from Leon and Lina, then pushes their backs as they turn around and walk outside, whispering "come on, let's get away from that creep."

Unwisely ignoring Yukari's glare, the boy turns his attention to Reimu and sternly says "miss shrine maiden, I cannot believe you allow such abominations in this shrine! A demons and... a two... things!"

Yukari's presence becomes more noticeable; the lamps around the shrine dim, the entire shrine becomes heavy, the walls and floor creak, and Yukari glares at the boy with a beastly look on her face; her eyes glow gold, and purple sparks fly out of her very being.

Before Yukari does anything, both Kasen and Reimu karate-chop the boy's head, which successfully calms Yukari down, obvious when the shrine returns to normal, then Kasen angrily says "alright, boy! Start answering questions! Who are you? Where did you come from? How did you get here?"

Then Yukari sinisterly adds "and how did you get past the barrier without my notice?"

The boy uses both hands to rub both sides of his head, then looks up at the girls, and sighs.

From the table, Marisa says "finally, he gave in."

Tenshi adds "about time. I was starting to get bored."

Suddenly, Mima adds "honestly, getting used to his energy was a pain in my tail."

Sitting; sort of; between Tenshi and Marisa, is Mima, who has successfully become the center of some awkward and silent attention.

She flaps her hand in the air at the girls in front of the boy and casually says "don't mind me, I'm just watchin'."

* * *

The girls ignore Mima and turn to the boy again, and before Kasen or Reimu chops him again, he says "my name is Drake Starstriker. I came from a distant world known to some in **this** world, as the legendary world, 'Lumia'."

All, but Reimu and Yukari look a bit impressed at the sudden burst of words from the boy, who takes a deep breath and continues "I came here through means of my vehicle of light, which resides in my heart. As to how I came to pass your barrier without your notice, all I can think of as a possible explanation is... whenever I travel from one world to the next, I become pure light. It's the only explanation I can give you."

Unimpressed, Yukari glares at Drake and says "somehow, I am not convinced... mister deity."

The gap youkai enjoys the surprised look on Drake's face, then Reimu stomps her foot on the floor and exclaims "what's going on here? Why do you keep calling him a god?"

Ail is the one to approach Reimu, places a calming hand on her shoulder, and softly says "calm down. I am sure Yukari has a good reason."

Drake stands up, ignoring Yukari's warning glares, places his right hand on his chest, and pulls a small star-shaped orb of pure white light from his heart, then says "this is my vehicle of light. Something all humans and living... _beings_... share in common. I am not sure about demons, though."

He stares straight at Yukari as he says this, though she does not seem to be affected by his words or his stare at all.

The gap youkai turns around, then loudly says "this boy has earned the right to ascend, with both body and soul, and thus has become a sort-of god. Still..."

Drake steps closer to Yukari, then loudly and angrily says "still, I have many trials to endure before I can fully ascend! Those damned gods and angels found it FUNNY to separate me and my love while each of us travel from one world to another, to learn through experience the many lives shared all over the universe! They claim she has passed the test, but they won't allow me to **SEE HER**!"

He looks at Yukari as though ready to cry with rage, and says "Mina Estrella! Separated we were, by a cruel joke."

From the kitchen, Rika's voice vibrates calmness into the shrine when she suddenly says "forgive my sudden injection, but maybe the reason they won't allow you to see her, is because you have yet to learn how."

Reimu, Kasen and Ail turn their surprised faces to the kitchen, then Reimu asks "Rika. When did you get here?"

Rika stands in front of the opened sliding doors to the back of the shrine, with Koakuma and the Kori twins to her left.

She turns to face the little devil and said twins, and smiles as she asks "I'm sorry little sis, but could you wait while I make dinner?"

As if in a blissful trance, Koakuma smiles and nods twice, then she and the twins sit at the back porch, even when Lina says "but I want to stay with her."

Rika turns around to face Reimu, bows, then says "I apologize for returning this late. I lost track of time, so I'll try to cook something good, as fast as I can."

Drake seems to be in a trance as well, stares unblinking at Rika, and slowly walks toward her, raising his hands as though in adoration.

He suddenly drops to his knees and bows, while saying "such a beautiful goddess stands before me, and yet so humble that she works for this fair shrine maiden, out of the goodness of her own, pure heart, I am sure of this."

Rika's face turns bright red as she stares with embarrassment at Drake, and says "um, er, what I... um... P-please stand up, sir!"

From the living room, Reimu and Tenshi both stand with their weapons drawn while staring daggers at Drake, and from outside, Koakuma glares at the boy as though she's just seen Remilia in the nude once again; her disgust is evident.

In a monotone and ominous tone of voice, Reimu asks "what the hell are you doing, Drake? Stand up, you."

Equally ominous, Tenshi adds "you better stay away from Rika."

From outside, Koakuma points at Drake and says "one wrong move, and I'll have your head!", while Lina stands up to the little devil's side and says "stop making my sweet Koakuma angry, you."

Rika looks around in fright, her wings involuntarily flap around very rapidly, and after bending her neck down and closing her eyes, she shouts "everyone, please! Calm down! Mister Drake, please stand up!"

When she straightens out and opens her eyes once again, she gasps with fright and exclaims "oh no! Wh-what happened?"

Reimu, Tenshi, Marisa, Yukari, Mima, Koakuma, Lina and Leon, all lie on the ground on pools of blood from their noses, with happy smiles on their faces, while Ail, with Suzaku on his shoulder, stare at Rika with pink cheeks and goofy, drooling smiles.

Drake is the only one that looks calm as he kneels on the ground, but upon closer inspection, Rika realizes he is, in fact, unconscious, evident on the blank stare in his eyes.

Rika whimpers as she sways left and right, flapping her wings even more rapidly, and asks "uuu~! What should I do? Why did this happen again?"

Everybody raise their right thumbs at Rika, and at the very same time, smile and say "we're alright!"

* * *

Two hours later, after the blood is cleaned, the stomachs are fed, and misunderstandings are _somewhat_ cleared, Kasen and Drake make their way out the front of the shrine, Kasen making very sure to have Drake trapped by her left arm.

Before lifting off, Kasen sternly says "alright, you're coming with me because there's no other choice, but you're going to work for your right to stay, alright?"

Drake nods and says "I wouldn't accept anything else, miss Ibara."

Kasen releases his arms and looks at him with some admiration, then says "so polite, yet you are still in trouble, mister. Now give thanks to Yukari for helping you, again."

Drake growls softly, reluctantly turns to face Yukari inside the shrine, slightly bows his body, then says "th... thank you for your help, Yukari Yakumo. I... I guess that, if it weren't for you, it would have taken me months to learn your language... like when I had to learn Latin."

Kasen smiles, offers her left hand to help Drake, but he shakes his head, bows politely, then says "it's alright. As long as I have my vehicle of light, I can fly."

As they fly away, Kasen asks "wait, then why didn't you say so sooner?"

Drake quickly replies "I did, but you didn't understand me."

Marisa, Mima and Yukari watch them leave, then Marisa says "I have a feeling that Drake's going to be a handful. We should keep a close eye on him, ze."

Sounding a bit calmer, Yukari replies "hmph! He already gives me a very bad feeling, so he best behave."

Mima points upward and says "look, he's coming back."

Drake flies several feet above the girls, looks at Yukari with a little more respect than before, then says "please give my thanks to lady Reimu. And another thing... Those twins are an abomination. I recommend you destroy them now, before they do something vile."

Yukari pulls her fan from her pocket and opens it in front of her mouth, covering half her face, then says "and I recommend you keep your nose out of Gensokyo's business, young godling. Our affairs are our own. You should know better."

A sudden glint of fury escapes Drake's eyes, but he quietly bows, then flies away.

After he's gone, Marisa asks "whoa! What was that about?"

Mima giggles, then says "those '_Kori_' kids are not what they seem, my old apprentice."

Yukari keeps her eyes on Drake as she nods and says "if they turn hostile, we will deal with them, but I doubt that will be a problem. After all, they both imprinted on those librarians."

Mima nods, then laughs hard before saying "to think the kid actually pulled her panties off, and she didn't even notice."

Marisa smiles with jagged teeth and says "that Lina will be an asset to Aya. She's really good at rememberin' that stuff."

There is a sudden explosion at the back of the shrine, then Ail screams "someone HEEEELP!"

The girls turn their heads to the back and watch as Sanae flies over him, shooting magical stars and sparks, and shouting "hold still Ail! Just one hundred more to go and I'll let you off the hook!"

Ail morphs to his dog shape; a very tiny dog with golden fur, brown hair on his head and bushy tail, and a pair of large brown eyes.

He runs on all fours, much faster and more agile than before, and shouts in a high-pitched tone of voice "how's THAT letting me off the hook, woman?"

Sanae shouts back "I don't care how adorable you look! I'm taking you down!"

There is another loud explosion, Ail's rapid yelps, and Sanae's insane cackle.

Marisa sweats as she looks at Sanae go, then points and says "that's one messed up girlfriend."

The girls make their way back inside the shrine, and after another explosion and more yelps, Mima giggles and says "I'd never treat my man like that, you know."

Yukari giggles, and says "I know, I'd probably just eat him up."

All three girls laugh, while there's another explosion, though this one comes with Sanae's screams instead, and dog-Ail's victory howl.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside Rika's room, Koakuma sits to the left of her brown sack, in front of Rika's closet, while Tenshi holds Leon, and Reimu holds Lina by the door, and Rika stands with her back pressed against the right wall, looking dreadfully frightened.

Concerned, Reimu looks at Rika, and asks "are you sure you're alright? Rika, please, if there's anything you need to say to me, just..."

Tenshi cuts Reimu off and says "remember, I am here for you, my friend! Anything you need, just give the word!"

Rika fakes a giggle, evident in the coldness of her voice, then says "i-it's alright, Chiko, miss Reimu. Please, don't mind me at all. Um, now please, if you'd be so kind, I believe miss Koakuma would like some privacy?"

Koakuma looks a bit nervous as she rests her arms on her thighs and fiddles with her thumbs, and start blushing a little as she nods, acknowledging Rika's words.

Reimu and Tenshi sigh, then Reimu closes the door and says "well, j-just remember that we are here. Um... see you later."

After they reach the living room, Lina looks up at Reimu and says "but miss Reimu, you can't just leave that poor dear like that."

Leon looks up at Tenshi, and adds "the angel needs her friends. If they don't try, she will fall."

Tenshi barks back "do you think we don't know that?"

Reimu, more calmly, says "but we can't just force her to tell us what's wrong. She has to do that herself."

The twins look up at their current guardian's faces, and can see the pain in their eyes, but what they do next both surprise, and calm the maiden and the celestial down, and helps them feel elated.

Leon and Lina wrap their arms around the waist of their guardians, and press their ears on their stomachs, and as they do this, they place their right palms on the spines of the girls.

At first, Reimu and Tenshi think of screaming and pushing them off, but a warm and fuzzy sensation fills their being, and end up returning the hugs with one of their own.

With a blissful look on her face, Tenshi says "what is this? It's like... like all my troubles are being swept off."

Reimu closes her eyes, a tear of happiness escapes her right eye, then she asks "what are you doing to me?"

Lina and Leon giggle, then simultaneously say "let us take your woes, even if it is for a brief period. It's the least we can do for you who treat us as friends."

Reimu and Tenshi are feeling so much peace now, that they don't care for the estranged looks being shot at them by Mima, Marisa, and the tiny dog-Ail from the table.

Yukari has left, and seems Sanae as left as well, but she's left Ail behind for some reason.

Feeling so appeased, Reimu releases Lina, seems to walk on air as she approaches the remaining guests, and calmly asks "and what happened to you, dear Ail?"

Before he answers, Marisa, though still looking shocked, casually says "he bit Sanae's shirt right off, then gapped her back home before she killed him."

Ail wags his tail, then asks "can I stay here until the morning? I fear she might be waiting for me at home."

Reimu giggles and smile, a deadly combination for the three on the table, evident when some blood gush out the noses of Marisa and Mima, and Ail's cheeks turn bright pink, noticeable even through his hair.

Mima and Marisa rise to their feet, err... tail, in Mima's case, and look ready to pounce on the maiden, then a large washtub falls upside-down on them, trapping their heads in it and knocking them down to the ground.

Tenshi, who holds Leon up, as though holding her own child, and says "heh-heh, would you look at that, Reimu. They fell."

Reimu just giggles as a response, and now dog-Ail is having second thoughts about staying, after looking at the eerily blissful faces on the celestial and maiden.

From the perch, Suzaku says to Ail "_it's alright Ail. They are just experiencing a well-earned moment of peace. If I were you, I'd stay._"

Dog-Ail chuckles as he calms down, looks up at Suzaku, then says "alright, if you say so.", then he's suddenly lifted off the table by Lina, who hugs him tight, and says "don't you fret, mister Ail. Miss Reimu will take great care of you!"

Ail is starting to feel that same warm and fuzzy feeling as Reimu and Tenshi, but suddenly twitches, and says "wait a minute! How do you know my name? We haven't been introduced yet."

Leon casually replies "but miss Suzaku just said your name."

Both Ail and Suzaku twitch violently and open their eyes wide in surprise, wondering how in blazes those two heard Suzaku's telepathy.

Tenshi and Reimu start walking side-by-side to the outside, by the left entrance, then Reimu says "so, make yourself at home Ail."

Tenshi turns her smiling face back and says "yeah, um, please take care of the twins for us. We need to check on something!"

Both the maiden and celestial zip out of sight the second their feet touch the ground outside, then Suzaku wing-palms and says "_they're spying on Rika-sama again._"

* * *

Meanwhile, inside Rika's room, the maid stands two feet away from the kneeling devil, and asks "so, what is it, little sister? What did you need me for?"

Koakuma gulps, her wings tense, then she opens the bags and says "my lady patchouli was trying make a concoction to go out into the sun, but that failed and... well, I was wondering..."

She reaches into the bag and pulls out several of Patchouli's robes, pajamas and spare hats, then finishes "...if you could do the same thing to her clothes as you did to the mistresses'."

Rika smiles naturally, tilts her head to the left, then says "is that all? You don't need to be so nervous about asking me that. Here, let me... eh?"

The first piece of clothes Koakuma offer Rika to work with, is a vertical-striped purple and dark-purple bikini, which looks quite small, and noticing the blushing face on Koakuma, Rika gets a bit frightened.

Rika accepts the piece of clothing, sweats a bit, then chuckles nervously and asks "um, little sister, are you sure your motives are pure?"

Koakuma quickly changes her face, looking more natural as she nods to Rika, then says "of course. My lady Patchouli is so weak against the sun, and I just want to help her."

Even though she says this, she imagines a fuzzy picture of Patchouli wearing the bikini with a flushed, embarrassed face.

Her ruined image ticks her off, making her groan and say "hey, move out of my day-dreams, you stupid fuzzies."

Rika has already synthesized several of Patchouli's clothes when she notice's Koakuma's annoyance, then says "hmm... if I find out my little sister is being naughty again, I am going to have to punish her."

Koakuma's hands and feet shrink and look like tiny pikes, her head-wings flap very fast, and her eyes turn large and round as she cries and whimpers.

The little devil suddenly recovers herself, jumps toward Rika, who yelps and jumps back, then grabs the maid's arm while crying "don't be mad, miss Rika. I'll be good!"

Rika twitches violently and tries to push Koakuma away, but manages to stop herself before doing just that.

Koakuma noticed the reaction quickly, so she lets Rika go and takes two steps back.

On the small window nearing the ceiling, two pair of eyes peek into the room, just as Rika starts to breathe rapidly through her mouth and tries to get up on her feet.

Koakuma reaches for Rika's arm once again, but stays away when she hears Rika's heartbeat accelerate at an alarming rate.

The little devil stares at Rika, as the maid gets up on her feet with the help of the wall on her back, and in a soft and concerned tone of voice, she asks "Rika... onee-chan, what the matter?"

Rika shakes her head and is about to say she's alright, but Koakuma angrily shouts "you just looked at ME like I was some sort of monster! You are NOT alright!"

Rika lets out a loud sob, then whimpers "please, don't tell my lady! I already caused her so much trouble!"

Koakuma sighs to calm herself down, places her right hand on her chest, then says "onee-chan, I can't believe you! You are stronger than this! Talk this over with me then! Come on, I'm right here!"

Rika shakes her head and whispers "I.. can't. Please, don't make me."

The maid suddenly grabs the rest of Patchouli's clothes and points her synthesizing hammer at them, they all glow at once, and sounding hurried, Rika says "there, I'm done! P-please take these and go home. L-lady Patchouli m-must be trouble by your a-absence!"

While Rika rapidly stuffs the brown sack with Patchouli's newly-sun-proof clothes, Koakuma stares at Rika with a bitterly sad face, her wings drooping, and her heart feeling like lead.

Rika pushes the bag on to Koakuma, pushes the little devil out the room, and when she's out the door, Rika starts sliding her door shut.

Before it's fully shut, she stops, looks at Koakuma's hurt and confused face, then cries "I'm sorry miss Koakuma, but I need to think. But know, my little sister, I am... very grateful to you for trying. Thank you.", then shuts the door.

Koakuma's face changes to wondered, then she whispers to herself "so... I helped? Then, I'm glad about it, but... I wish I could do more for her. She's already done a lot for me."

After saying this, Koakuma pulls her copy of the necklace of Harmonia, and looks at it.

Rika's gift to her, a lovely chain necklace with a round blue jewel in the center, and a triangular stone underneath it.

She stuffs it back in her shirt, then sighs.

* * *

Koakuma makes her way outside the shrine, walking past Mima, who sleeps in a futon with little dog-ail on top of her, curled like a ball, and whispering to Leon and Lina "come on you two, it's time to go."

The twins at the table notice the sad look on Koakuma's eyes, and return a look of pity to her, but say nothing about it and follow her outside.

Right after Koakuma places her feet on the ground outside, she looks up at the sky, sighs, then says to herself "Rika-onee-chan. I will help you through this, even if you don't want my help."

Leon and Lina grab her hands and lean their heads on her shoulders to comfort the little devil.

Surprised, Koakuma asks "wait, you guys... are you trying to comfort me?", but before this touching scene can go any further, the trio hear muffled screaming from their right.

They look to the ground and find Marisa, tied up with rope and gagged with a white cloth.

Koakuma curiously asks "Marisa? What the hell is this?"

She bends down and removes the gag from Marisa, then the witch excitedly exclaims "Koa, they're MAD! Get out while you can! Oh shit! It's too late!"

Reimu's sinister voice echoes all over the shrine as she says "so, you thought you could just walk in and have Rika open herself up to you, is that it? WRONG!"

Tenshi's eerie voice rings all over the shrine as she says "u, fu, fu, fu. You demons are all the same. You think you're better than us. Well you are wrong! Rika belongs to ME!"

From the left, Reimu angrily shouts "hey! Rika is mine! Go get your own!"

Koakuma turns around and sees the girls pressing their chests against each other, while Tenshi says "YOU? Don't make me LAUGH! I've known Rika for far longer than you! If someone's going to comfort her, it will be ME!"

Before Reimu can voice her reply, Koakuma storms closer and angrily says "HEY! Rika is MY onee-chan, so AS the little sister, it is MY sole duty to comfort her, AND cheer her up!"

Leon holds the brown bag now, and he and his sister watch as the three girls glare at each other, as though ready to throttle one-another at any second.

And then it happens.

Reimu jumps on Tenshi, and Koakuma jumps on Reimu, and immediately create a massive cloud where their screams, oomphs and smacks concentrate.

Reimu shrieks and shouts "my foot!", Tenshi screams "you'll pay for that!", and Koakuma cries "let go of my wing, you brute!"

Reimu suddenly shouts "Demon Binding Circle!", and both Koakuma and Tenshi are blown away from the fight cloud, after a massive golden pillar as bright as the sun shoots up to the night sky.

Lina grabs the dazed little devil by the back of her skirt, and looking fierce, she signals Leon with her right hand, to get closer to her.

She grabs her brother and sits him on her shoulder, then easily lifts off to the sky with both her brother and Koakuma, shouting "definitely time to head back home! Don't worry my little pet, I'll keep you safe!"

Leon quickly adds "let's go sis! My love is waiting for me!"

Still tied on the ground, Marisa shouts "hey! Lina-girl! Leon-boyo! Don't leave me here..."

The witch looks toward the screams of Tenshi and Reimu, then screams in horror when she realizes the girls are moving the new fight cloud straight toward her.

Desperate, Marisa screams "WAIT, NO! Get away from me, you idiots!", and tries to squirm away, but it's too late.

She gets caught in Reimu's and Tenshi's fight, and screams to the skies at the top of her longs "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Tenshi suddenly shouts "Sword of Diving Justice!", there is a loud explosion, and then silence.

* * *

The next morning, Ail walks out of the shrine in his human form, stands in front of the left-side entrance on his still-bare feet, stretches and moans, then a green and blue blur tackles him to the ground.

He is now being pinned to the ground by Sanae, who looks at him straight in the eyes and says "you have guts, ripping my shirt off like that, but today, I came prepared! Eh?"

Sanae and Ail look around themselves and notice Tenshi, Marisa, and Reimu on the ground just a few feet to their left.

Marisa is still tied up and with her clothes torn around her back, Tenshi is missing half of her skirt and her hat, and Reimu missing her right sleeve, and the left half of her vest, revealing her sarashi.

Sanae suddenly grabs Ail by the collar of his shirt, lifts him up, and while engulfed in flames, she angrily asks "Ail, what the hell HAPPENED HERE? Why are all these girls on the floor with such content faces?"

At first, Ail is a bit frightened, but he suddenly feels infinitely annoyed, grabs Sanae's arms and forces her to let him go, points back at the girls, then says "look closer, you lunatic. They were obviously fighting!"

Upon closer inspection, Sanae can clearly some danmaku blasts on the girls' skins, and realizes their faces are more on the pain side, rather than the pleasure side.

She looks back at Ail's stern face with an embarrassed smile of her own, chuckles nervously, then says "er... sorry."

Ail rubs the left side of his head and sighs, then says "no, no, I'm sorry. I should have just gone straight home last night. At least that way, you wouldn't have jump off the handle again."

Sanae snaps back "hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

From inside the shrine, Rika calls "breakfast is ready~!"

Reimu, Tenshi, and the tied-up Marisa spring to their feet, then make their way into the shrine, acting as though nothing ever happened, even Marisa, who is hopping her way inside.

Ignoring the girls, Ail turns his attention to Sanae and asks "and where's Budou?"

Sanae looks curiously at Ail and asks "wasn't she with you?"

From inside, they can hear Budou's familiar giggle, so the two quickly move to the door, and see Budou is fine, sitting on Mima's lap and giggling while the so-called evil spirit hugs her from behind, and giggles along.

Both Ail and Sanae raise their left eyebrows, then both suddenly shrug, and Ail says "come on, I'm sure Rika will get upset if we don't eat."

Sanae replies "but I already had a huge breakfast. I'll get fat."

* * *

Later that morning, after sweeping the shrine grounds, Rika starts her training on the back, but her performance suffers due to the fact that Reimu, Tenshi, Ail, Sanae, and Budou are watching her from the porch.

The shrine maid sweats nervously and tries to look away, but somehow ends up looking back at the spectators whenever she makes a move.

Reimu notices Rika's discomfort, so she gets up from the porch, sighs, then turns around and walks inside, and as she does, she taps Tenshi and Ail on their shoulders, and both immediately understand what is happening.

Tenshi groans, and reluctantly gets up and walks into the shrine, while Ail taps Sanae's shoulder and signals her with his eyes to head back inside.

Budou sighs, then says "she won't let us help."

Ail quietly nods in assent, and as he, Sanae and Budou turn around to walk inside, a rather large portable light-brown wooden shrine falls in front of them with a heavy thud, opening up and revealing a picture of Ail's father in black and white, with black strings adoring the upper edges, a golden bell in front it, an incense burning behind it, and a pair of white candles to its side.

Confusion takes the trio, particularly Ail, and sounding slightly annoyed, Ail asks "what kind of sick joke is this?"

From behind him, the soft voice of his mother says "this is no joke, Anilan. Go on and pay your respects to your father."

Ail immediately kneels in front of the small shrine, taps the bell with the small golden rod in front of it, then claps his hands together and closes his eyes to pray, while Budou kneels beside him and does the same, and Sanae prays in a strange dialect.

Before Ail opens his eyes, he can hear Reimu from behind the shrine small, praying in a strange dialect as well.

As soon as the praying is done, Ail turns around to address his mother, but she's not there.

He blinks twice and looks around, then Rika, who's given up on her training, pokes his right shoulder and points to the porch, and there is Ayalina Leuch Higani, the overprotective mother hen.

She has short brown hair that's lose, and reaches to her shoulders, maroon eyes, and wears a long plaid-green dress with a white apron on top, a pair of brown sandals, and has a small black clip adorning the right side of her head.

Ail stares at his mother, as she plays with Budou, for a brief moment, then asks "mom, when did dad die?"

Ayalina's expression swiftly changes, and with a pained smile on her face, she says "about six months ago. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Ail, but after what had happened with you and the police, and all that, I thought it would have been a mistake to tell you."

Ail's eyes narrow down as he looks to the ground to his left and says "I see."

Ayalina's expression quickly changes back to bubbly-happy and says "but at least I know he is in a better place. And now... well, seeing as I sold the house, the car, you sister... oh, wait, I didn't sell her, she just went and left on her own..."

The woman ignores the shocked looks on everyone's faces as she smiles, sighs dreamily, then says "ah, they grow up so fast."

Rika suddenly appears with a large tray of tea mugs and offers one to Ayalina, who quickly accepts hers, takes a quick sip, then says "so, anyway, I decided I'm moving back to Gensokyo! Isn't that great?"

Budou, Sanae, Reimu and Ail all stare straight at Ayalina, then Ail asks "but wait, mom, where are you going to stay?"

The woman stares straight at Ail without blinking, and slowly, as if through telepathy, the knowledge sinks into Ail's brain.

He trembles, his eyes hide under a thick, black shadow, and sounding a bit frightened, he asks "wou-would you stay at my house while you find a home of your own, mom?"

Ayalina places her cupped hands next to her left cheek as she cheerily says "that's my boy! Always thinking of others."

Ail chuckles, then looks away and thinks "yeah, sure, if I said anything else, you'd just kill me."

The realization suddenly strikes him, then he turns over to Ayalina, but Sanae beats him to it, and asks "so, missis Ayalina, were is your luggage, you clothes, your personal things?"

Ayalina smiles quite contently as she looks at Sanae, and whimsically says "I sold those too! I've been using these same clothes for three weeks now. Don't worry though, I've been cleaning them every day, so nothing really smells."

Large drops of sweat appear on the back of the heads of everyone present, including Budou and Rika, both whom seem to be trying their best to smile as naturally as possible.

* * *

After recovering from the awkward moment, Rika, reluctantly accompanied by Tenshi, flies to the Human Village to buy Ayalina a few sets of clothes, including some new underwear.

Ail has opened a gap to his living room, and is setting his father's shrine in a corner, while Ayalina shows Reimu, Mima, Sanae and Budou the only items she did not sell...

Albums containing Ail's baby photos; of all the things.

After closing his gap, he looks to his right at the giggling girls, then grumbles to himself "well, at least she didn't sell them to some stranger."

Suzaku flies out of nowhere and lands on Ail's left shoulder, and says to him "_aww, you were so cute. Whatever happened to you?_"

Ail sighs, smiles, then says "Reimu hit me with a yin-yang orb on the face."

Reimu suddenly exclaims "aww, look at that cute little butt!"

Ail shrieks, darts toward his mother, then looks at a picture of him as a toddler inside a pool without his swim trunks.

To his luck, the picture only shows his back, but it's enough to freak him out and gap that album back to his living room from his own mother's hands, then exclaims "PICTURE TIME IS O-VER!"

The girls all moan and complain, then Ayalina giggles and says "he's so bashful."

Still agitated, yet as calmly as possible, Ail says "come on mom, it's time to go home!"

Reimu chuckles and says "it's alright smooth-buns, relax. We didn't see that much."

Sanae quickly adds "like I'd let them."

Ayalina suddenly gasps, and when all eyes are on her, she says "that's right, I forgot! Seeing as hubby is gone, and I'm not going back out there, I supposed I don't need this life-support barrier anymore."

Without even taking into consideration that her own son is watching, Ayalina grabs the bottom of her skirt and pulls her dress all the way up.

Ail's reaction was purely instinctive, but life-saving.

He covers his eyes with his hands and a gap, then runs inside the shrine, screaming "SAVE ME!"

The girls just yelp, then awe as the sight.

Ayalina's body glows bright for a moment, and when she happily says "all done!", the glowing stops, and Sanae shouts "Ail, you have to see this!"

From inside, Ail shouts "No, I don't think I should!"

Sanae shouts "for Kanako's sake, you cry-baby! She's decent, so just come on out!"

Ail peeks his right eye from the sliding doors, then suddenly gasps and jumps out of hiding, points as his mom, and shouts "what-the-hell!"

Ayalina now looks as though she's on her twenties again; her hair looks a bit longer, smoother and shinier, her eyes sparkle with energy, her rather excellent figure looks firmer and more detailed, and the four crescent, cute, pink fairy wings on her back add more points to her charms.

Ail stammers for quite a bit, while Budou says "wow, gramma looks so pretty!"

Ayalina giggles, and with a softer and younger voice, she says "why thank you, little cutie. I love you."

Ail grabs Sanae by her shoulders and tries to look at her in the face, though the maiden turns to look away with an annoyed smile.

Ignoring this, Ail nervously exclaims "hot! Moms aren't suppose to be HOT! What's going on here?"

Sanae frees herself from Ail, smacks him on the head with her gohei, and angrily says "calm down! Jeez, act like a man!"

Ail rubs his head while he looks at his young mother, and that's when he notices her eyes have turned pink, and her four crescent fairy wings are ethereal.

Without much through, he closes his eyes, activates his Yozoragan mode, and reveals his ethereal dragon wings, then Ayalina gasps and shouts "A DRAGON? You little imp! You traitor!"

She pulls a parasol form inside her apron's pocket, even though it looked like nothing was in there, then smacks him on the head repeatedly, while saying "take that, and that, and that! You little cheater! Why do YOU get to fuse with a dragon, and I get a zippy fairy?"

Ail can only stammer as be blocks his young mother's attacks, while Reimu smiles in a vile, yet somewhat calm manner, and says to herself "nye-he-he~! This is going to be good."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the SDM's library, Remilia is on the third floor balcony smiling with amusement, looking down at the scenery of the library below, where Patchouli is furiously pacing left and right while trying to read her book, and Leon keeps getting in her way with a face that suggests he is not going to stop any time soon.

Two bookshelves away, Koakuma is holding that striped bikini on her hands, while Lina stands in attention to the little devil's right.

Sakuya appears right behind Remilia, but before she speaks, Remilia raises her right hand and whispers "shh~. I want to watch this."

On the ground floor, hiding behind the bookshelf, Koakuma whispers "alright, you little nuisance, prove your wroth to me again, and help me put this on lady Patchouli."

Lina looks determined, and quietly nods after Koakuma's orders.

They quickly and quietly move toward Patchouli and Leon, then hide behind the bookshelf next to their target.

Leon sees them, and nods after his sister sends a stern glare at him, then exclaims "miss Patchouli... MY LOVE!"

With a smile on his blushing face, he jumps toward the surprised magician.

Patchouli quickly side-steps, but that's where she makes the mistake.

Leon grabs her left leg as she takes the step away, pulls her hard, then knocks her to the floor, forcing her to drop her book as well.

As she moans, before she can get up, Koakuma and Lina jump on her, forming a massive fight cloud, then her robe, shoes and pajama fly around the room, the warm pajama falling on Leon's head, making him sigh very contently.

After everything settles down, Leon takes the pajama off his head, then his eyes open wide as they lock on to Patchouli, and starts drooling uncontrollably.

In front of him are Lina and Koakuma, said devil looking even more perverted than Leon right now, and of course, there is also Patchouli, wearing that tight bikini that fits her just perfectly, even though it reveals some jelly-rolls.

The top covers her enough, yet leaves some skin to be admired on the middle , showing off her impressive, pale cleavage, and on the sides; while the bottom covers her front quite perfectly, yet the back leaves quite a bit of pale skin exposed.

Patchouli blushes and tries to cover herself up with her hands, to no avail, and with rage in her undertone, she asks "what... in the name of the nine levels of hell is THIS?"

From the third floor balcony, Remilia wolf-whistles and cheers.

After panting hard, Koakuma smacks her lips and says "now miss Patchouli can go out and take some sun! Get a nice, sexy-healthy sun-tan!"

Patchouli's rage increases fast, and in a sudden and rage-filled hand gesture toward Koakuma, she turns the little devil's clothes into a white bikini that, although covers better then Patchouli's, it gives the impression that Koakuma is not wearing a thing.

The top looks a bit more perky than Patchouli's, and bounces a bit more, and the bottom, though a bit narrow, it still covers quite a lot.

When Koakuma realizes what happened, the yelps and tries to cover herself up, but Lina is already tackling her to the ground and eating her up, even though the poor little devil struggles against her.

Koakuma cries for help from Patchouli, but the magician is just too fired up, and she quickly turns her attention to Leon.

On the balcony, Sakuya raises her Luna Dial and says "I'll go and save him, my lady."

Remilia holds Sakuya's skirt, and says "no, wait. Just watch."

Back on the ground floor, Patchouli now holds her book again, and looks at the small boy with undeniable hatred.

The book on her hand goes crazy, flipping pages back and forth, her hair flails wildly, the area around her turns dark and in a raging tone of voice, Patchouli says "you! I have had enough of you, you sick bastard! TAKE THIS!"

A spell card flies straight out of one of the book's pages, and Patchouli loudly declares "Death Defined, Cadaverous Laceration!"

An odd sword with a demonic, fanged skull and red eyes on the rain guard, cross-guards that look like sharp demonic wings that aim their tips forward, and a wavy, dark blade, materializes and takes physical form above Patchouli's head, then aim's it tip at Leon's heart.

The boy is in complete shock and can only stare at Patchouli with his mouth wide open.

On the balcony, Sakuya worriedly asks "my lady, are you sure about this?"

Remilia smiles and says "just watch Sakuya. He will be just fine."

On the floor, Leon covers his face just as the sword flies straight toward him and in a flash, Lina steps in, grabs the blade with her bare hands, pushes it up and turns it around, grabs it by the hilt, then the sword becomes a green energy blade that gets absorbed into her right arm, and simply disappears.

The poor, naked Koakuma on the floor behind Patchouli, Sakuya on the balcony, and Patchouli herself, stare with shock and horror at the girl.

In a very calm, yet stern voice, Lina says "miss Patchouli, as much as me and my brother love you, I will NOT allow you, or anyone to hurt us again."

She points at her brother with her left arm and continues "someone already tried eating his arm off. He cried for hours, and there was NOTHING I could do, but wait for him to heal. I will not allow this to happen again, even if it's YOU!"

Patchouli seems to have forgotten she's wearing one embarrassingly tight bikini as she steps backward with both hands raised in the air in the same manner she had them as she cast her spell.

She stops moving just as she reaches Koakuma, then softly says "tha-that-that spell. The... the blade!"

She raises her voice as her confusion rises, and asks "your soul should have been consumed! H-h-how'd you do that? How did you survive?"

Lina stares at her own hands and says "it looked like just another dumb old sword to me!"

Patchouli's breath breaks along with the shivering of her body, yet she manages to ask "what... what the hell are you?"

Leon suddenly tackles Patchouli to the ground, knocking all her breath when he strikes her belly with his head, then gives her small kisses on her belly and says "don't worry my love! I still love you, even if you tried to hurt me!"

Patchouli laughs when the kisses start to tickle her, and when Koakuma relaxes, Lina jumps on her and says "let's continue where we left off, my precious little pet! HAVE AT YOU!"

Koakuma cries "NOOOO! Someone save me, please~!"

Remilia laughs hard, but stops for a moment and says "see-he, heh, Sakuya? I told you he-heh would be fine."

Sakuya concernedly asks "my lady, how did you-?"

Remilia flicks the joyful tear from her left eye, takes a deep breath, sighs, and says "just think of our temporary guests as '_special beyond imagination_', and you'll understand soon enough."

Sakuya ignores the call from Patchouli and Koakuma as she stares at her mistress with confusion, then the semi-naked magician, and her naked little demon, can be seen as they manage to fly to the exit and escape their aggressive lovers.

Sakuya recovers herself, smiles, then says "I'll prepare a more suitable room for them, my lady. Next to the yuki-onna's, if it's alright with you."

Remilia smiles proudly at Sakuya, and says "as expected from you, Sakuya. I never doubted your intellect."

* * *

Later that day, Ail, Budou and Ayalina reach the lonely white house with a recently repainted green roof and red door, Ail's house, then Ail opens the door, sighs, and sounding almost sad, he says "welcome to our home, sweet home, mom."

Ayalina giggles and says "thank you sweetie. Please don't mind me~!"

Budou looks at Ail's paler-than-usual face, and concernedly asks "what's wrong papa? Aren't you happy that gramma is here with us?"

Ail manages a pained smile, and says "I don't know if you'd understand, but... my mom is living with me, she looks like she could be my sister, and now Sanae..."

Budou looks up at Ail with confusion, and asks "what about mama Sanny?"

Ail chuckles and rubs Budou's head, then says "no, it's nothing. I'm just thinking stupid things again."

Just then, there is a familiar scream, then Ayalina giggles and says "my, how adorable! Ail, you sneaky dog, you!"

Ail and Budou enter the house and immediately feel it's colder than it should be inside.

They hear a familiar voice cry out "please, please! Let me hide in here a little longer! I don't wanna go out there! Wait, let me go!"

Ail and Budou exclaim "Cirno?", and to the left of the entrance, inside the kitchen, the young-looking Ayalina holds on to the frightened Cirno, who tries to wriggle herself free, and cries "please, the weird things stay away from me in here! Don't take me outside! And could you let me go already?"

Ayalina looks at Ail, smiles mischievously, then says "my, Ail, I can't believe you! Such a cute little ice fairy as your plaything? Really, is Sanae not giving you enough?"

Ail raises an eyebrow, a large orange question mark appears over his head, then he imagines using Cirno as breakable puzzle to be arranged over and over again.

Ayalina notices the confused look on Ail's face, and sounding disappointed, she asks "wait, so she's not your plaything?"

Ail snaps out of his confusion and asks "what do you mean 'plaything', mom?"

Cirno has stopped squirming after having given up the hope to escape, then suddenly perks up when Ail asks "Cirno, what are you doing here?"

Again, the ice fairy tries to escape, so Ayalina lets her go and allows her to cling on Ail, holding on to him like a frightened child.

Sounding very disappointed, Ayalina sighs and says "so she's not your plaything. And here I thought your denseness had diminished somewhat."

Ail ignores his mother, returns Cirno's embrace to calm her down, then asks "alright you, what exactly are you doing here?"

Cirno looks up at Ail and says "th-the dragon and I were having a fight, and I got super strong, and SUPER fast, but then I got too strong and this HUUUUGE icicle with eyeballs opened up in front of me and started laughing! I ran and I ran, and the thing kept appearing around me and laughing, and throwing snowballs at me, so I ran some more and hid here! I-It stopped chasing me, so I stayed!"

Alarmed, she tries to climb to Ail's shoulder and says "please, don't kick me out with that thing out there! I'll be good! PLEASE!"

Ail sighs and holds the ice fairy as he would Budou, then says "it's alright, you can stay. Budou, could you please take her to your room? I think she'll calm down if she stayed with you for a bit."

Cirno forcefully pushes herself off Ail's embrace and drops to the ground in a daze, then Budou, from the fairy's right, nods at Ail and says "will do my best papa!", then grabs Cirno by her arm and says "that's it Cirno-chan, come with me. And please don't do stupid things!"

* * *

After Budou and Cirno are gone, Ail walks over to his couch, drops on it, and admires his home.

He is now sitting in his living room, which has a long three-people couch, where he is sitting, with blue cushions, a love-seat to the left, and now, on the farthest right corner, the small shrine with his father's picture on it.

Behind him is the kitchen and dining room, which are cluttered together in one large area.

The dining room itself has one comfortable wooden table with three wooden chairs of the same color, and to the right of that, going inside the house, are the counters, a few cabinets above said counters, a working refrigerator, which is powered by a crystal on its back, and the clean sink that rests all the way to the back, at the end of the counters, in front of a plainly adorned window.

Between the kitchen and the living room is the narrow corridor to the rooms, with Budou's room immediately to the right, the toilet room to the left, further inside is a storage room to the right, and the bathroom to the left, and at the end of the corridor is Ail's room, which will obviously become Ayalina's room, at least until she finds a new place to live in.

After admiring his own home, as though seeing it for the first time again, he notices Ayalina sitting beside him with an endearing, motherly face.

Worried, she asks "Anilan, what's the matter?"

Ail looks at his young mother, but seems to have gotten used to her younger look, and calmly says "you know... I'm not sure."

As he looks away from his mother, Ayalina smiles motherly at him, kisses the side of his head, then says "tell me what's wrong with Sanae."

He opens his eyes with surprise when his mother hits that jackpot, but before he asks her how she knows, Ayalina says "I may look young, but I am still your mother. I can tell these things as easily as I always have. Now, talk to me."

Ail sighs in defeat, looks at his father's shrine, then says "I don't know exactly what happened. Everything seemed fine, and then one day, she stopped calling me 'Ail-kun'. As embarrassing as that kun-thing may sound... I liked it when **she** called me that."

Ayalina smiles and waits for Ail to continue.

He looks with longing out the window on the wall in front of him, and after seeing two small fairies fly by, he says "and after that, she started calling me a 'crybaby', 'idiot', 'coward', and if that wasn't enough, she... she now tells me I need to act like a man."

Ayalina's smiles disappears as she looks at the pained look on her son's eyes, then Ail continues "she has also taken a liking to hunting me down and calling me 'half-youkai' all the time. I stopped going to the Moriya shrine and given her some space, but now, every time she sees me, she automatically attacks me. I think... she doesn't want me around anymore."

Ayalina smacks the back of his head with her palm and angrily says "what kind of talk is that! Ail, you just have to remind her why she liked you above everyone else! You need to wow her, dazzle her! Moping around like that is not going to help you one bit!"

Ayalina waits for a moment while her son rubs his head, then says "I am not going to help you! You're not a mama's boy after all. However, I will give you a hint. You need to do something you've never done before. Hit her hard, and I'm sure you'll win her back. Now, it's up to you to figure out what that something is."

Ail is not sure if it was that smack to the head, or his mother's words that turned on that thinking bulb inside his mind, but the confident and mischievous smile on his face lets his mother know that he has thought of something.

* * *

Midday at the Moriya shrine, a seemingly peaceful shrine settled at the top of the Youkai Mountain, which makes it a very close neighbor of the Tengu Village, and of the Hermit, Kasen Ibara.

On the back of the shrine is a large lake with sacred logs, massive logs with charms or streamers tied with holy ropes on the tops, sticking out as though part of the lake itself.

On the front of the shrine is the donation box, which rests on a small platform under a long thick rope with bells, right in front of the shrine's main temple.

To the left of it is the storage house, which is designed to look just like the shrine, only, it is small and has a silver padlock with chains and charms to keep its contents safe from would-be youkai, or human robbers.

To the right is the shrine's living house, where all the rooms, the kitchen, living room, and everyday necessities are, for those that live there.

The shrine itself is a real pain to reach, being all the way on top of the Youkai Mountain, and not only that, the extremely long path that one needs to take to get there is just ridiculously tiring, so by the time a human reaches the large red gates in front of said shrine, he or she will be too pooped to even think of sharing some faith.

The shrine ground itself has a few trees cluttered together, as well as brand-new flowerbeds, but the Hakurei Shrine still has far many more trees and flowers for pleasurable viewing.

Sanae looks tired, hot and annoyed as she sweeps the stone path in front of the donation box.

She mutters angrily to herself, constantly mentioning Ail's name, and sweeping more fiercely whenever she does.

She can hear the buzz of a gap breaking open the distance barriers, and she immediately shoots a very dirty look to the direction of the sound, thinking Ail might be there, but there's nothing.

She resumes her angry sweeping, muttering furiously about Ail once more, then seven orange orbs that fall from the sky, explode on the floor behind her.

Sanae yelps after she is flung forward, but she manages to remain airborne before falling face-first on the hard floor, and that's when she turns her furious glare up above the main temple.

Smiling with annoying confidence is Ail, holding on to one orange orb on each hand, and looking at Sanae, as though inviting her to fight.

Words need not be exchanged for the maiden to pull out her gohei from a pocket in her left detached sleeve, and with her own disturbing and confident smile, she says "taking down a wimp like you is going to be easy."

Ail's smile turns to a frown, and sounding furious, yet calm, he says "you sound much better with your mouth shut!"

Angry glares are exchanged for a few seconds, then the fight begins the moment Ail tosses his orbs at Sanae.

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu and Tenshi are having a staring contest, while Rika looks miserable toward the horizon, far behind them.

The two girls suddenly stop and look toward the shrine's stairs, where another girl with a green skirt stands.

Reimu scowls, then asks "and what do YOU want, half-ghost!"

Another girl reveals herself hiding on one of the trees to Reimu's back, and this one has a long, single-platform geta sandal, just like Aya, and with a confident tone of voice, she says "you two aren't, like, the only friends Rika-sis has!"

The girl at the shrine's entrance adds "don't even dream for a moment that we'll leave Rika's recovery on YOUR incapable hands!"

Tenshi turns her attention at the girl by the entrance, while Reimu turns hers toward the tengu by the tree.

Tenshi smirks, then says "it seems someone wants to become a full ghost. I'll be glad to help, little girl."

Reimu pulls out a pair of charms from her right sleeve, a set of needles from her left sleeve, and holding each between fingers, she glares at the tengu girl and says "I'll make you eat those words raw, chicken girl!"

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Drake, Leon, and Lina were created by Willie G.R.

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Patchouli's Death Defined, Cadaverous Laceration, created by Willie G.R.; name taken from Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

Other elements used to write this chapter belong to their respective owners.

APR 10 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**About Drake Starstriker:**

**I created this character many years ago for a story that I wanted to publish a long time ago, but sadly I never really got to it, and to this date, it remains unfinished. This does not change the fact that he is (in a way) a "God-in-training", and Gensokyo is just ONE of the many worlds he visits during his travels. The vehicle of light that I use to explain the way he travels is something I learned about through metaphysics, and found it interesting, so I'm using it for him. Know that by the time Drake reaches Gensokyo, he's already been through many rough experiences. I will add more information on him, either through the story, or through author's notes if I see there is a need for explanations. Thank you for reading this far, and I hope you are enjoying this story so far. Oh, and yes, I WILL be using washtubs more regularly again *smile*.**


	4. Chapter 4

It is midday, and at the lake at the back of the Hakurei Shrine, Rika sits on the edges of the water, and rubs Genjii, the oversized youkai turtle, on the head. He is a green, flying, talking turtle, large enough to carry a human or two on its back, and has a large, thick grey beard.

As Rika scratches his hard and smooth head, which makes him moan contently, she whispers "why can't I shake this off already?"

At that very moment, Satori's words echo in her mind "_you are allowing those memories to hinder you, when you should be gaining strength from them... ...as long as you keep them in front of your eyes, I'm afraid you'll never gain the strength they provide."_

Rika quickly clenches her eyes tight and covers her ears, as though trying to stop Satori's voice in her mind.

Genjii skillfully exits the water, lands next to the shrine maid, places his head on her lap, then asks "what's the matter, young lady?"

Rika opens her eyes and slowly lowers her left hand, placing it back on the turtle's head, scratching it once again, then softly says "I think I may... N-no, it-it's nothing at all."

Meanwhile, explosions and danmaku shower the darkening sky over the Hakurei Shrine itself, as four girls battle as fiercely as beasts fight for food and territory.

One has short, silver hair and dark-blue eyes, and wears a white shirt under a green, sleeveless vest, a green skirt with light-green ghost motifs on the lower borders, white socks, black shoes, and a black ribbon tied to the right of her head.

Always beside and around her is her ghost half, a large spirit about the same size as herself, and she carries with her two swords; the larger one is called Roukanken, said to be able to cut ten ghosts in one swing, and Hakurouken, said to be able to cut through confusion.

Youmu Konpaku, the innocent swordswoman gardener, moves about at great speed, cutting bullets with her sword while sending some back via her ghost half, and zipping away.

Another has long brown hair tied to twin pigtails with purple ribbons, brown eyes, and wears a pink shirt with purple trims on the collar and a black tie, a checkered purple and black short skirt, long black socks cross-laced by red strings, a pair of red geta sandals with a single platform, and wears a purple tokin on her head.

Hatate Himekaidou, the annoying, spoiler, modern, tengu girl, holds a checkered yellow and orange cell phone with a heart adorning the top under the camera lens, and has an ornamental brush hanging from it.

She growls furiously to the sky, takes a picture with the camera on her cell phone, and from it fly several purple petal-shaped bullets.

The other two girls showering bullets are Reimu Hakurei, who shoots charms and needles at Hatate, and Tenshi Hinanai, who shoots small keystones and red orbs at Youmu.

All these girls have large tears and holes on their clothes, burn marks on their skins, but all four keep fighting as though their life depended on it.

Reimu throws more charms, Tenshi shoots more red orbs from her sword, Youmu shoots energy blades from her sword, her ghost half shoots several white petal bullets, and Hatate shoots a rain of purple petals.

All the bullets meet in the sky and explode, and not one makes their mark, yet, below the level of the explosion are all four girls, squaring off and glaring at each other, daring one-another to make the next move.

Tenshi points at Hatate and shouts "you are all overstepping your boundaries!"

From the right, Reimu points at Tenshi and shouts "I'll be DAMNED before I let someone like YOU comfort her!"

Across from Tenshi, Hatate points at Reimu and shouts "you are way too rough for your own good, maiden!"

Across from Reimu, Youmu points at all the girls and shouts "you know NOTHING of the pain she endures! Only I am qualified to deal with this!"

Without warning, all four girls rush to the center of the sky and grapple each other.

Reimu wraps her arms around Youmu's neck, Youmu holds Reimu's arms with her own, but scissors Tenshi's waist with her legs, Tenshi stretches Hatate's arms all the way behind her back, and Hatate has Reimu's legs in a lock.

One thing these girls are currently sharing in common is that they all are forgetting about flying, and quickly plunge to the ground below, crashing down on to the bare dirt, making one disturbingly loud thud, accompanied by some cracks, groans, moans, and hurt egos.

* * *

Over at the Moriya Shrine, another battle rages, as Ail and Sanae fight without pause.

Watching this fight from a safe place are Kanako Yasaka and Suwako Moriya, the young-looking, kero-chan goddess.

She has blonde hair that reaches just below her shoulder, and ties her sideburns with red strings, has grey eyes, and wears a simple purple dress with dancing frogs designed on the left side of the abdomen and bottom of her skirt, a white, long-sleeved turtleneck shirt underneath, a pair of white socks and black shoes, and a peculiar tall straw hat that has a pair of round eyes, and seems to have a life of its own.

These two goddesses are under the barrier erected by themselves, sitting on the roof of the main temple, wowing and awing at the sight of the two lovers going at it so fiercely.

Ail twirls in mid-air and avoids several red and blue beams that were once a whole pentagram, then stops with a smile, aims his open fingers forward, then shoots several light-blue lasers.

Sanae, unlike Ail, has her clothes in tatters, is covered with burns from bullets, and she appears to be very winded, though does not stop.

She rapidly waves her gohei to disintegrate three, of the five lasers, but doesn't notice Ail gapped those missing two behind her, and scores yet another hit on her back.

Sanae groans and almost drops from the sky, then closes her right eye, and grits her teeth as she furiously looks up at Ail with her left eye.

She furiously shouts "gi-give up, you, you half-youkai! I-I'm not losing to you!"

Ail smiles mockingly and points at his chest as though inviting an attack, then mockingly says "I'm right here. Come and get me, miss I-won't-lose-to-you! Really, what a whiny girlfriend I fell for."

Sanae throws her tightly clenched fists down beside her waist and growls furiously as she looks up at Ail while keeping her head forward.

She screams "AIL, I'M GOING TO KILL YOUUUU~!", as she flies straight at him while winding her gohei all the way behind her head.

She surrounds her whole right arm with a holy glow and unleashes her furious attack at the smiling half-youkai in front of her, but Ail chuckles and quickly slides inside one of his gaps and disappears from sight.

Sanae spins twice after she misses, but quickly recovers and looks around with rage-filled eyes and breathing through her teeth, ignoring the strands of hair that are currently fluttering between her eyes.

From the shrine's roof, Suwako loudly says "oi~, Sanae! Don't let him push you around like that."

Sanae turns around and furiously shouts "if you think you can do any better, you are welcome to try!"

When the furious maiden turns around again, she comes face-to-face with Ail's hand-held explosive orange orb, and when she manages to move her shocked head up, she can see Ail's smug smile as he says "gotcha again.", then pushes the explosive orb to her chest without mercy.

The orbs explodes and sends Sanae falling on her back eight feet to the ground below.

Ail looks toward the girl with a frightened face and says "oh crap, I think I overdid it!"

Sanae trembles as she slowly gets back up from the ground, giving Ail a sigh of relief, then he shouts "alright Sanae, I won! Just stay down there and-"

He stops mid-sentence when Sanae continues to push herself up, and managing to tremble on to her feet, the exhausted shrine maiden looks up at Ail with defiance, and through gritted teeth, she says "like hell I've lost to you! I am going to punish you so bad!"

Sanae pulls a spell card from the left pocket on her skirt, which happens to be what's left of her destroyed skirt, then lifts it above her head.

Ail smiles wide, pulls a spell card of his own, then loudly says "that's my Sanae. Hit me with everything you've got! Not like it's going to change anything, but at least you will have given me your all."

Kanako and Suwako look intently at Ail and Sanae, wondering if they should intervene, but a quick wink from Ail breaks a smile on their worried faces as he reassures them he won't hurt the maiden.

* * *

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, the four warring girls are now fighting inside a blue, square wrestling ring with blue cords surrounding the large square, Mima, Marisa, Aya, Suika Ibuki, the eternally drunk oni, and Reisen Udongein Inaba, the sexy bunny and punching-bag, are sitting on a bench to the far right of the ring.

To the far left of said ring, is a large brown desk with two Lunarians, Toyohime and Yorihime Watatsuki, the overpowered god summoner, acting as commentators.

Suika has long orange hair that reaches to her knees, and is tied up to a ponytail on the bottom, has brown eyes, and two brown, straight horns she adorns with ribbons, and wears a tattered pink blouse with the sleeves broken off, a long purple skirt, brown shoes, and a large red ribbon on the back of her head.

On her wrists and her ponytail, she has shackles and chains, one with a circle, the other with a triangle, and the last with a square.

Reisen has long light-purple hair, long, white, rumpled rabbit ears that seem to have button connecting them to her head, and bright red eyes.

She wears a white, short-sleeved button shirt with a red necktie, a purple skirt that reaches just above her knees, a pair of long, black socks, and brown slip-on shoes.

Along with Mima, Marisa and Aya, they cheer on the girls in the ring.

Yorihime has long light-blue hair tied to a ponytail with a yellow ribbon, brown eyes, and wears a dark-red dress with a strap over the right shoulder, a short-sleeved white blouse underneath, a loose brown belt with a gold sword-shaped buckle, and a pair of white socks and brown loose boots.

Toyohime sits to the left of Yorihime, nudges her sister with her elbow, and excitedly exclaims "and the maiden has just performed a BEAUTIFUL pile driver on the unsuspecting celestial! Sis, sis! What do you think of that?"

Yorihime looks both bored and annoyed beyond the normal levels of boredom and annoyance, and dragging her voice, she groans and asks "really, is this any way for girls to behave?"

She looks at the ring, there is a loud thud, then Toyohime exclaims "by the GODS, that Hatate just flattened the poor half-ghost without mercy!"

Yorihime sighs, lets her head drop on the desk, then says "at least they aren't wearing those disgusting leotards, or something embarrassing like that."

On the ring, Youmu rolls away from the center and takes one of the corners to recover, and as she does, she looks to her left at Reimu, to her right at Hatate, then at Tenshi over at the corner across hers.

After the four girls stop breathing through their mouths, they glare at each other, then rush toward the center.

* * *

The girls crash stupidly upon reaching the center of the ring, but instead of allowing themselves to bounce back and fall on their butts, they fly up and barrage each other with bullets of all shapes and colors available in their arsenal.

Tenshi wraps her arms around Youmu's neck, cackles, then says "when I'm done with you, I'm going STRAIGHT to Rika's lap-OOF!"

Hatate kicks Tenshi on the stomach and angrily says "if someone's getting Rika's lap, it's ME! KYAH!"

Reimu grabs Tenshi and Hatate by their heads and bonks them hard against each other, then angrily says "you selfish brats! Not even thinking of Rika's well-being! I'm the only one capable of comforting her, so she'll be using MY lap instead-WAAH!"

Youmu kicks Reimu from behind and shouts "Rika needs tender love and care, and the warmth of someone who cares! You are as selfish as THEY are Reimu. You just want your servant back!"

**BOOM!**

Youmu is suddenly blasted from the sky by three danmaku waves from the girls, and flies straight toward the spectators on the bench.

Mima and Suika separate to allow the unconscious gardener and her ghost half to pass through, and after letting Youmu fall face-first on top of a bush, they get together again and cheer on, Suika clearly shouting "USE THOSE FIST, YOU SISSIES!"

The remaining girls are now three feet above the ring and shower each other with more bullets, but even at point black, not one seems to be doing enough damage to the other.

Reimu has had it; she roars, pulls a spell card from under her right sleeve, then shouts "Treasure Sign, Yin-Yang Orb!"

A gold-glowing yin-yang orb appears right in front of Reimu, and heads straight at the other two girls after Reimu smacks it with her gohei.

Hatate yelps and drops down, but Tenshi isn't so lucky, and screams out loud "DAMNED MAIDEEEEEEEN!", when the golden orb strikes her chest.

Tenshi remains airborne, but disoriented, so Reimu takes the chance and grabs Tenshi by the collar of her shirt, then throws the celestial face-first toward the commentators' desk.

Toyohime stays right where she is, but Yorihime jumps off her seat and screams when the celestial crashes right on to their table.

Enraged, Yorihime shouts "that's it! I'm going back to the man-WHOA!"

Tenshi recovers fast, growls furiously, grabs Yorihime by her legs, then growls as she walks over to the ring.

Yorihime shouts "Toyohime! Onee-chan, save me!"

Toyohime just chuckles, then loudly says "oh my! It looks like miss Tenshi has brought a foreign weapon into the ring!"

From the other side, Aya cheers "GO ON REIMUUU! Clip her wings off! That will make a GREAT scoop!"

Her eyes glint and she smiles ominously as she says to herself "not that this fight isn't a great scoop already."

Youmu has recovered already, and is raising her hands to grab the tengu, but Aya suddenly smiles and says "rabbits hit harder than birds.", then Youmu immediately switches her target and grabs Reisen from the other end of the bench by the ears and grumbles "sorry miss Udonge, but I need your assistance."

Reisen panic and waves her arms while shouting "wait, WAIT! Miss Youmu, what are you going to do? NOOOOO~!"

Meanwhile, inside the actual ring, Reimu and Hatate are synchronizing their punches and kicks, as though they have choreographed the fight scene, and whenever either one kicks, the other either kicks, flips, bends or jumps, and whenever the other punches, the other either sways, crouches, tries a sweep-kick the other one jumps, or pushes the fist with her palm.

As Reimu and Hatate continue their epic fist-fight, they remain unaware of the two girls entering the ring with their foreign weapons on hand.

Both Youmu and Tenshi now hold their "weapons" by the ankles, fly up to the fighting girls, and wind their "weapons" up like bats, and thanks to the screaming by both Yorihime and Reisen, Reimu and Hatate duck just in time, allowing Reisen and Yorihime to have their heads crashed on together.

From the commentator's desk, Toyohime shouts "it's a miss! It's a miss! The foreign weapons were too loud, and the girls had the chance to move in time!"

Reimu takes Yorihime away from Tenshi, then surrounds her with holy energy, while Hatate takes Reisen from Youmu's hands and starts spinning around with Reisen stretched out like a bat, using a wind spell on her feet for momentum buildup.

Tenshi bravely jumps toward Reimu, and Youmu slides under Hatate's feel, and after falling on her butt, Reisen flings off her hands and flies straight to Tenshi's hands, and even though thanks to that, she missed her mark on Reimu, the celestial smiles now that her odds are even with Reimu's once again.

Reimu holds Yorihime like a sword, and Tenshi does likewise with Reisen, then Reimu shouts "en guard!"

The girls start swinging the other girls like swords and smacking their already dazed heads over and over, and even though they are drifting from consciousness, the aliens remain quite stiff, making them the perfect weapons.

Hatate and Youmu quickly recover and hop on their feet, but instead of attacking each other, they nod and silently agree on attacking Reimu and Tenshi instead.

They rush to the sort-of-sword fighting girls, scream as they jump on their targets, and something purple, red and turquoise falls right on top of the girls, causing a massive explosion that sends all six girls straight out of the ring.

A large moonstone flies out of Yorihime's pocket, and goes all the way toward the lake behind the shrine.

All six girls now lie sprawled around the ring on the shrine grounds with dazed smiles, all moaning, some even twitching as they moan.

Toyohime excitedly shouts "oh, an outsider! It's an outsider! This match is OVER! The outsider wins!"

On the very center of the ring is Kogasa Tatara, the surprisingly adorable karakasa youkai.

She has turquoise hair, a right turquoise eye, a left red eye, and wears a blue-green vest with long, white sleeves that are puffed by the shoulders, a light blue skirt, a pair of wooden sandals, and holds a large eggplant-colored umbrella that has one eye and a large red tongue sticking from its mouth.

As the girls cheer for Kogasa, the karakasa youkai stands on one leg, looking adorable as she lifts her left leg, closes her right eye, stick out her tongue, then says "I guess it is **me** who gets to comfort Rika."

A large golden washtub falls from beneath the umbrella, and clangs on Kogasa's head, knocking the adorable little youkai in the blink of an eye, leaving her umbrella as the only one standing inside the ring.

The girls outside cheer louder, while Toyohime shouts "oh, what a stab on the back that was! The ugly, tattered, purple umbrella is the WINNER!"

* * *

At the same time, at the Moriya Shrine, Ail and Sanae continue staring at each other while holding on to their chosen spell cards.

After a prolonged moment of silence, Ail's face intensifies and he shouts "FINE! If you won't attack, then I will!"

He dives straight at the maiden and smiles confidently, then his smile widens when he sees the annoyance in her eyes, but his smile quickly turns around to a frown when he's close to her range of attack, then suddenly sways to the right to avoid a gohei between the eyes, and just as Sanae turns around, he shoots two explosive orbs at her.

Sanae yelps after being sent flying backward yet again, but manages to use the winds to slow herself down and stop before ramming against one of Suwako's favorite trees.

She growls, a tear of rage hangs under her left eye, and with all her fury, she lifts her spell card and shouts "you stupid, stupid Ail-kun! Let me win already! Youkai Extermination, Bewitching Power Spoiler!"

At that very same moment, Ail raises his own spell card and shouts "Light Sign, Holy Dance!", and after a large orb of light surrounds him, he shouts at Sanae "why? So you can call me a wimp or something? EAT UTTER DEFEAT!"

Sanae's spell absorbs Ail youkai powers and turns them into multi-colored petal bullets that fly away from him, then fly straight back, but his barrier actually prevents those bullets, even if they are made of his own energy, from reaching him.

Furious, Sanae shouts "WHY ISN'T IT HURTING YOU!"

Ail scoffs and mocking replies "what's the matter? Can't stand the fact that you just **LOST**?"

From the roof of the shrine behind Ail, Kanako and Suwako's faces turn red as they hold their own chests, then Suwako asks "when did he get so assertive?"

Kanako fans her face as she says "Sanae is right. He's like a hot, wild beast when he gets fierce like that."

Sanae roars furiously to the sky an rushes toward Ail in hopes of breaking through that barrier with her bare hands, but the moment she cancels her spell card to get closer, Ail sings "so~ predictable~!", then takes to the air and eight white beams fly around Sanae, and start dancing around each other, trapping her between a wide grid.

The maiden pushes herself and flies straight at him, ignoring the orbs of light in triangle formations all around and in front of her, grazes through said bullets, and the second she touches the battier, Ail opens a small gap on it, Sanae stumbles through, and before she can realize what happened, Ail holds her by the waist, raises her left hand along with his right, pushes her against his body, gets his face close to hers, then says "c'mon, let's dance a bit."

When Sanae realizes what happened, she furiously lashes her right fist on Ail's shoulder, yet whenever she hits him, the blows feels very soft to him, and as she shouts "Ail-kun, let me go! LET ME GO, I SAID!", she slowly allows herself to relax in his arms.

Ails spell cancels, the bullets and beams disappear, the barrier vanishes, and as he slowly descends, he dances in the air with Sanae and says "perhaps I was being too soft, or perhaps you want me to change. Sanae, is this what you want?"

Sanae feels tired, her clothes are dirty, burned and tattered, and by now, her rage has subsided, but that has left her so tired, she ends up resting her chin on Ail's shoulder.

Right after they land, Ail continues to make Sanae dance with him after making her place her feet on top of his, then she softly says "I just wanted Ail-kun to be a little stronger. He's so kind and gentle, but why can't he be a little more assertive, like today?"

Ail chuckles, lets her left hand go to fully embrace her and stop the dancing, then, with a smile on his face, he softly says "when I see that Ail guy, I'll tell him. However, understand that Ail is Ail, and he can't be someone else. I'm sure he'll agree though, that he needs to be a little bit stronger; less of a punching bag of sorts."

Sanae giggles softly, then equally softly, says "that's good then. He should act like a man once in a while, for... *yawn* Sanae's sake."

The shrine maiden has fallen asleep on Ail's embrace, and he skillfully releases her waist and places his left arm behind her knees, slides his right arm around her ribs, then lifts her up with ease, even keeping her head well-rested on his shoulder.

Kanako and Suwako fly down to the front of the shrine and greet Ail with a smile, then quietly follow him as he carries Sanae into the living house, back to her room.

Before he enters the house, Suwako chuckles, then says "don't think we'll leave you alone with her."

Ail chuckles, then asks "you think I'm going to attack her while she sleeps? Jeez, give me some credit. I already won anyway."

Kanako chuckles nervously, then says "that sounded very suspicious."

Ail asks "wait, how so?"

None of the goddesses reply, then Ail asks "you guys, what are you thinking? ...Why are you giving me those disappointed stares?"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's basement corridor, Patchouli, who is still in her bikini, and Koakuma, who is somehow wearing the bikini Patchouli magically force on her again, walk to the deepest parts of the corridor, where even Koakuma has some trouble seeing because of the darkness.

The walk has been quiet for the last minute or so, and Koakuma quickly breaks the silence when she asks "why are we going further into the basement?"

Patchouli stops walking, and turns around to answer her little devil, then Koakuma's necklace takes Patchouli's attention.

Such a shiny and lovely necklace hanging lazily from her neck, brushing that pale demon skin, and then she sees the breasts.

Patchouli's are impressive, but there's something about Koakuma's being so perky that just irks the magician.

Koakuma notices Patchouli's stare, then covers herself up with her arms and back-wings, rapidly flaps her head-wings, turns sideways, blushes beet red, then exclaims "don't look at me like that!"

This act of embarrassment makes Patchouli herself blush, but quickly gets embarrassed of herself and turns around, then finally answers "ahem... um, right. I know of a room large enough to accommodate more than enough books for me to get by. We are going to use it as our temporary library."

Koakuma calms down and she and Patchouli resume their walk, and out of curiosity, the little devil asks "what do you mean 'temporary'?"

Patchouli's eyes glow in the dark, a bright blood-red crescent smile creeps around her face, then she sinisterly says "those two little monsters will eventually come looking for us, and when they do, I'll have a trap ready for them in that very room. Once they are trapped in there, we'll leave them to rot, and we'll have our library back."

Even in this darkness, Koakuma can see the ominous aura that surrounds her mistress, and can't help but whimper and shake at the frightening sight; even forgetting how hot her mistress looks in that outfit.

Patchouli recovers her usual demeanor and calmly says "this is it."

To the right of the corridor is a large, dark, moss-covered, wooden, dual door with stained silver handles.

The magician grabs the left handle and pulls with all her might, which isn't really that much, and the doors open together to reveal the sound of snoring coming from within.

Patchouli's eyes hide under the shadow of her hair, even though they are in the dark, and her mouth hangs open when she realizes her backup room is no longer deserted.

A bead of sweat rolls down from underneath Koakuma's left head-wing as she says "oh, it seems there's someone in here Patchouli-sama."

From their right, Sakuya asks "oh, lady Patchouli, miss Koakuma, what are you doing here?"

Patchouli points her right hand inside the room, and asks "S-Sa-Sakuya! Why... who is in this room?"

The elegant maid stands beside another door that neighbors the one in front of Patchouli, though this other door is a single, blood-red rectangular door, and looks cleaner and newer than the dual-doors.

A small vein pulsates on Sakuya's forehead as she smile and calmly says "well, seeing as your failed experiment caused the mistress some trouble, I had to arrange a hospitable room for the yuki-onna that kept demanding retribution and refused to leave."

Inside the dark and cold room, in the very center, on top of a very comfortable-looking queen-sized bed, is Letty Whiterock, sleeping soundly and looking very content, snoring loud and giggling as though lost inside a wonderful winter dream.

The dual-doors slowly and quietly close-up on their own, and at the same time, the door beside Sakuya slowly opens.

Both Patchouli and Koakuma twitch when they learn who is staying in said room.

Leon and Lina walk to Sakuya, bow politely; Leon bending his body forward, while placing his right hand on his stomach, and Lina slightly lifting the bottom of her skirt while bending her knees; then Lina says "the accommodations are perfect, miss Sakuya.", and Leon adds "thank you so much for your hospitality."

A quick, mischievous glint escapes Sakuya's right eye, then she bows her head to the twins and says "so glad you approve..." then looks over at Patchouli and Koakuma, smirks, then says "you see lady Patchouli and miss Koakuma. Just be nicer to our guests and you'll save yourself more unnecessary trouble."

The twins' eyes sparkle upon the mentioning of their favorite librarians' names, then Leon exclaims "Patchouli, my love! I was so worried about you!"

Lina squeals with glee and exclaims "Koakuma, my beautiful pet! I got so sad when you left the library!"

Patchouli and Koakuma twitch and hop back, then Patchouli raises her right hand, points to the ceiling, and says "plan B! TO THE ROOF!", then she and Koakuma fly as fast as they can through the dark corridor, Koakuma exclaiming "right behind you, Patchouli-sama!"

Lina immediately takes flight and shouts "WAIT! Wait, for us! We want to go with you!"

Leon starts running after them, shouting "no fair! I can't fly like you guys! ...WAIT UP~!", then pants as he speeds up his pace.

Sakuya giggles, then says to herself "my lady was right. This _is_ quite amusing."

From behind her, hidden in darkness, Remilia's upside-down smile glows as she gleefully says "I told you~", making Sakuya gasp in surprise.

* * *

Somewhere, hidden in the Youkai Mountain, though not really that well-hidden, is Kasen's so-called dojo, which is quite close to the Moriya Shrine.

The three-floor, pagoda-shaped building looks more like a mansion, rather than a dojo, as Kasen claims.

It's built on solid foundation, it is surrounded by a square wall with a top that's built to mimic the brown roof of the 'dojo', and the expansive ground in front of the door to the foyer is large enough to have a battle without risking too much damage to the house.

The building itself is made of wooden walls that looks sturdy enough to take on a hurricane with ease, and the roof flaps are made of wood with bamboo plating, painted in dark brown to match the reddish-brown walls.

On the second floor, a balcony can be seen from the distance, suspected it being next to the master bedroom, while the third floor is small, but seems is serves more as an observatory, rather than a room for storage, or sleeping.

Inside the first floor, the foyer is adorned by a few of scrolls hanging on the walls, some with artistic images of ancient youkai, or warriors, and one with written instructions on proper behavior.

The room to the left is the living room, which has a single short wooden table with an empty basket on its top, and to the front of the room is the kitchen, which looks like it has been quite some time since it's been used.

To the right of the foyer is a small room with weighs, bamboo swords, steel rods, a punching dummy, and quite a lot of weapons, though most seem harmless and meant for training.

Next to those are the stairs that lead to the second floor, which is a small corridor that stretches forward, and to the left.

There is a sliding door to the right on the small corridor forward, which must be a bedroom, and to the left is a more solid sliding door with a sign that reads "unoccupied", thus giving the impression of being the bathroom.

The corridor to the left is much longer, and has four sets of white sliding doors in front of each other, which are obviously more spare rooms, and the first room to the right seems to be Kasen's room; it is adorned with a pair of pink roses, one on the top, the other on the bottom, and upon closer inspection, the wooden frame of the sliding doors have carved vines on it.

Next to the stairs to the second floor are the stairs to the third floor, which is surprisingly more spacious than it looks from the outside.

It is a single, large room filled with books on astrology, martial arts, and energy control.

Said books are scattered all around the floor, and on the walls are pictures of human bodies, same as the ones in Eirin's clinic, drawn maps of the solar system, star formations, and constellations.

On the wall to the front of the house, is a small round window, and next to it is an old telescope, though it is covered in dust, and hasn't been used in some time.

The wall to the left of it, where most of the drawings are hung, is a large wooden desk with a white feather inside an empty pot of ink, a square green mat with an open astrology book on it, and even more books set upright, to the sides of said mat.

Next to the desk is a large mountain of scrolls, old papers and books, and nearing the wall to the back of the house is a single wooden bed, where Kasen is currently sitting on with her legs crossed and her hands stretched beside her.

She takes deeps breaths through her nose and exhales slowly and rhythmically through her mouth, and although her eyes are open, it is obvious she is in a deep trance; keeping her eyes straight on the empty wall to the left side of the house in front of her.

* * *

Kasen slowly closes her eyes as she exhales one last time, then asks "is there something you need from me, mister god-in-training?"

Drake Starstriker flies next to the round window from outside the house, with his back turned to the wall, and has his arms crossed over his chest.

He chuckles, then says "I have done all you asked me for. The floors, the walls, the windows, the tools are all cleaned, and I even fixed your door, so now it should slide effortlessly."

From inside, Kasen chuckles, then says "quite the handyman, I see."

Drake remains silent for a few seconds, then asks "and so... how come you aren't a god yet? You don't need to eat food to survive, you are very kind, though a bit of a nag, and you seem enlightened enough to me."

From inside, Kasen sighs and replies "it's a little different for me, Drake. I still have some worldly attachments, and I still lack a higher level of enlightment. Still... you seem to have your own attachments, and yet you have earned the right of godhood."

Drake sighs, his eyes become distant as he looks to the sky, then says "I sacrificed much, for the good of many, and so I earned this right. Mina earned it through sheer force of will and love, and our old friends became ascended angels. Their choice, by the way."

There is a moment of silence, allowing the sound of the wind to soothe the mind, then Drake suddenly opens his eyes and asks "how come that shrine maiden, that goddess that works for that maiden, and you, came to be in this demon-infested world? It just makes no sense to me."

Kasen now stands to Drake's right, on the flap of the roof that separates the third floor from the second one, looks sternly at Drake, and says "first of all, call them youkai, no demons. True, they are a rowdy bunch, but not all are bad. Some are just following their instincts. Second, and understand this, Gensokyo is THEIR paradise, not the humans'."

The new revelation hits Drake hard, evident when he opens his eyes wide with indignation, and sounding confused, he exclaims "what? This beautiful land, so full of light and magic, is a paradise for the dem-er, I mean, youkai? But that makes no sense at all."

Kasen presses her right, bandaged finger against Drake's nose, then says "it is this magic that has saved them all from extinction."

She retreats and sits cross-legged on the roof flap, places her back against the wall, then continues "I don't know what kind of worlds you have seen, but this one is very different from what seems you think to be the 'right thing'. First of all, Gensokyo is just a speck of land in a much larger world. This land is protected from the outside world by a powerful, ancient barrier. It keeps the magic intact, so youkai can live here in peace."

Drake sits beside Kasen and looks at her as though looking at a teacher.

She ignores this and continues "the world outside this one has lost its magic. The humans have forgotten about faith, their minds trapped inside technology and machinery. Most have even lost their love for things that grow. A being like a youkai, who depends so much on magic and nature to survive, would immediately die out there, and that, I am sure, includes you."

Drake places his right hand on his chest, closes his eyes, then says "true. Every time I use my vehicle of light to travel from one world to the next, it needs to absorb small bits of magic every day, and if it can't I'll disappear forever, vanish from the circle of life... forgotten by all, including those I love."

Kasen nods, springs on her feet, places a hand on Drake's head, and after he looks up at her, she says "you keep that in mind when you start traveling around here."

Drake looks surprised at Kasen, who says "don't give me that look. Beings like you can't stay locked in one place. You have to go out there and spread your light around, but while you do, remember what I told you. Don't go killing youkai unnecessarily. Use magic to beat them up, kick their butts if you need, but don't use that blade."

He knows he shouldn't be surprised, but after she mentions the sword to him, Drake springs up on his feet and angrily asks "how do you know of my sword?"

Kasen sighs, rubs her own head, then says "meditation helps. Look, just relax, alright. Meditate a bit before deciding on what to do next."

Kasen casually walks over to the edge of the flap, jumps down to the ground, and lands gracefully on the dirt, then begins her stretching exercises.

Meanwhile, Drake just watches her while lost in thought, then closes his eyes and think "this is going to be hard. Demons, or as she calls them, youkai... they can't be trusted. The moment you turn your back, they will strike! I will do my best to do what I must and get out of here quickly, but if one of those things crosses the line, I won't hesitate to cut its flame."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu, Tenshi, Youmu and Hatate all lie on the ground beside each other on top of futons in the shrine's living room.

They are all covered in bandages, and for some odd reason, Tenshi got the most damage, and now looks like a mummy with blue hair.

They moan and complain about their many aches and pains, and from the small table, Suika laughs, and says "you're so lucky I didn't join you. You guys are so weak, I could have snapped you all like toothpicks."

On Suika's left horn perches Suzaku, who raises her left wing and says "_that's right. Look at you fools, fighting like idiots, gods-know-why, and then trouble Rika-sama so much with the bandaging!_"

Over at the counter separating the kitchen and living room are Rika, Reisen, Yorihime, and Kogasa, and right now, Rika is bandaging Kogasa's head very gently.

Kogasa looks quite content about it, but Reisen and Yorihime, who have bandages around their heads also, don't look as happy as the karakasa youkai.

After Rika is done bandaging Kogasa's head, she lightly taps the youkai's shoulders, and sounding tired, she softly says "it's alright Suzaku. I am sure they learned their lesson."

Rika suddenly remembers something and pulls a large moonstone from her pocket, then asks "miss Yorihime, are you certain I can keep this? I mean, it's such a wonderful stone."

Yorihime smiles and waves her hand left and right in front of herself, then says "it's fine, it's fine! We have plenty of those back home."

Rika blushes bashfully as she looks down to the floor, then says "um, uh, right, I forgot. You live on the moon, after all."

She looks away, then adds with a whisper "good thing Genjii caught this before it hit my head."

From behind them, Toyohime and Mima simultaneously say "and~ lunch is ready~!"

All but the girls on the floor turn to look at the cooks, while Rika bows to them and sounding a bit pained, says "thank you very much for helping me with lunch. I apologize for the trouble."

Toyohime and Mima smile wide, then Marisa pops from between them and exclaims "hey, hey, cut that out! We were glad to help, ze! Now come on, let's eat! I'm starving."

At the living room, bandages fly when Reimu springs up and exclaims "they helped Rika!"; Youmu springs up and exclaims "hey, not fair!"; Tenshi spring up and exclaims "I was supposed to do that!"; and Hatate springs up and exclaims "I'll make you pay!"

Before they get up, a brown and pink blur zips behind the girls and knocks them back down, one-by-one.

The blur then moves to Yorihime, and now we have Mystia Lorelei, the blinding, singing sensation, standing with her arms spread in front of the Lunarian, and glaring furiously at the four knocked girls that are slowly getting back up.

Mystia has short pink hair, pointed owl ears, grey eyes, and wears a brown hat with wings on the top, a brown dress riddled with wing-shaped bows and a skirt that reaches to her knees, long white puffy sleeves, long calf-high pink socks, and brown shoes.

The night sparrow youkai also has a pair of purple wings with pink feathers on her back, and a set of nasty-looking, sharp long nails on her fingers.

She glares at the girls, then sternly says "you will not lay another finger on Yorihime, you hear me, you brutes!"

Rubbing her forehead, Reimu moans and asks "what's this? You need a bodyguard now Yorihime?"

The Lunarian covers her embarrassed face with her right hand and looks away while mumbling "well, she just... safe and all that."

Outside the open left-side doors, Aya eagerly takes pictures and exclaims "today I've collected more than enough stories for weeks of articles in my newspaper!"

A well endowed woman in a kimono walks to Aya's right, looks inside the shrine with a whimsical smile, and softly calls "Youmu, it's time to go back home."

Yuyuko Saigyouji, the ever-hungry, whimsical princess of the Netherworld, has wavy pink hair, maroon eyes, has various formless spirits swirling around her, and wears a light-blue hat with a white bandana that has a red ghost insignia, a light-blue and white kimono with dark-blue borders and sash, and has clouds designed all over her kimono, and a pair of pink socks.

Youmu makes an instant miraculous recovery, jumps to her feet, then exclaims "Yuyuko-sama! So sorry! I'll go and make your lunch right away!"

Yuyuko giggles, then says "alright. Please say goodbye to your little friends."

Youmu stammers nervously as she walks toward Yuyuko, puts on her shoes once outside the house, turns around and bows, then exclaims "please excuse me! Thank you for today! Please take care!"

The girl and her ghost half rush to the sky, while Yuyuko smiles whimsically and waves at the girls inside, then lazily takes to the air and flies after Youmu.

The girls all look confused and are about to speak, but Youmu suddenly peeks her head from the top of the doorway and threateningly says "oh, and this isn't over! I'll be back later to settle this!", then darts away again.

There is a long moment of silence, then Aya breaks the peace when she starts to chortle, and is quickly followed by the heavy laughter from girls inside.

With tears flowing from her eyes, Aya stops laughing and asks "wah-ha,ha! What the hell was that?"

Tenshi laugh hard, stops, then asks "what IS she, the gardener's mother?"

Reimu holds her stomach, stops for a moment, then says "ma-maybe we should get her a bib the next time she comes!"

The laugher resumes, even though Rika and Suzaku look stern, and Rika angrily says "now just a... That's no way to... Come on, she's just following orders!"

Suzaku quickly adds "_cut it out already! You're upsetting Rika-sama!_"

The girls continue to laugh away, and all Rika and Suzaku can do is sigh, slump, and wait for them to stop.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the SDM, on the clock tower's balcony, Koakuma and Patchouli rest on a long beach chair each, each has an elegant glass filled with champagne on her right hand, and each wear a pair of shades to block out the blinding sun rays from their eyes, as well as their bikinis, of course.

Patchouli places her glass on the small round table to her far right, turns around, then moans contently and says "I guess you were right, Koa. Sunbathing is quite rejuvenating."

Koakuma lets out a long, relaxed sigh, then says "I told you, Patchouli-sama. Just wait and see. Your skin will take a nice and healthy color, and you might even feel more energetic after this."

Patchouli's reply is a long, relaxed moan, then they resume their quiet sunbathing.

From Patchouli's left, Flandre sighs and says "you know, onee-sama and I have been trying to get a tan, but we just can't get even a little color."

Patchouli quickly raises her confused head to her left, and there is Flandre, sucking on some red juice through a straw inside a mug, wearing heart-shaped sunglasses over her head, and a blood-red bikini with pink frills on the top's and bottom's borders.

Curious, Koakuma asks "lady Flandre, how long have you been there?"

From Koakuma's right, Remilia says "we've been here the whole time. You two were just lost in your own little world."

To Koakuma's right, drinking red juice from an elegant glass, is Remilia, who wears a pair of regular sunglasses, and a black bikini with a red full moon on the left breast, and on the left-center of the bottom.

She flaps her left wing, then sighs and says "the sun's overrated. I still have no color, even though I've been doing this for months."

From Patchouli's immediate left, Leon says "perhaps the reason is that vampires can't actually absorb sun rays. That's what the book at the library said, at least."

From Koakuma's immediate right, Lina says "that book's really old. Maybe they just need to soak for longer periods of time."

Koakuma's wings stiffen upright and Patchouli's body tenses up when they realize the twins are giving them massages.

Leon is currently massaging the magician's bare back, while Lina massages Koakuma's right thigh.

Trying to sound calm, Patchouli asks "since... when have you two...?"

Leon casually answers "I've been tending to my love this whooooole time!"

Lina adds "we even brought you your drinks and we have been giving you some well-earned massages this whole time."

Patchouli's neck tenses further when Leon starts rubbing her shoulders and he concernedly says "Patchouli, my love. You are so tense. You were so relaxed when I was working on your front not long ago."

Lina rapidly adds "the same goes to you, my adorable, sexy pet. Why are you so tense now?"

Patchouli's and Koakuma's faces turns blue, both seem like they are about to scream, but Remilia snaps her fingers loudly, and the twins immediately jump to her right.

Remilia looks to her left at the librarians, lifts the left side of her sunglasses, then grins and winks at them.

She turns her attention to the twins, then says "alright you two, this is our alone time now. Go and wait for Patchy and Koa in the library."

The twins slump and simultaneously aw, and as they walk back inside the mansion, they say "alright lady Remilia.", then the door closes up on its own behind them.

Patchouli turns over again and sits upright to look at Remilia, then sighs her tension away and says "thank you Remi. I owe you one."

Remilia chuckles, then says "oh no, you owe me nothing. We are even."

Confused, Koakuma says "well, that's very generous of Remilia-sama."

Flandre laughs, then says "don't be thanking us so fast, ladies. we already have more than enough blackmailing photos of your little massage session."

The librarians turn their terrorized faces to Flandre; their eyes are covered by a dark shadow and their mouths look like opened squares; then Remilia says "quite. If for some reason you fail to follow my orders, I'll just '_accidentally_' slip one of those pictures into a tengu's hand... for the right price."

The librarians turns their violently trembling heads toward the mistress, keeping their terrorized faces petrified, then Koakuma turns to look at Patchouli, and just like that, both girls turn to stone.

They quickly break free from their stoned state, sigh in defeat, then sounding relaxed, Patchouli says "well, whatever. At least we can stay here and soak up some sun in peace, away from those damned imps."

Rain clouds cover up the sky, and immediately pour down a furious storm.

Patchouli's indecent cuss echoes all the way toward the Human Village, where the children at the school giggle at the sound of the powerful word.

* * *

At the Moriya Shrine, Suwako is once again on the roof, letting the torrential, late noon rain soak her up, and as it does, she closes her eyes and sings "auauauu~"

From below the roof, inside the house, Kanako takes a broom and flies to the ceiling, then bangs its tip on the wooden frame, and angrily says "Suwako, cut that crap out."

From outside, Suwako shouts back "I am blessing the rain, you old hag!"

Kanako gets quite annoyed and wants nothing more than to grab that little frog-girl's face and stretch it, but she doesn't want to get wet, so she just sighs and floats back down, saying to herself "stupid frog will get it later."

The living room is the first room reached upon entering the shrine's front sliding doors.

The short square dining table rests to the right of the room, next to the entrance to the kitchen, and to the left is the door leading to the rooms corridor.

A scroll with a hand-drawn picture of Kanako, and one of Suwako to the right of it, hang on the left side walls of the doorway to the corridors.

In the middle, farther inside the living room, are a few couches with red cushions surrounding a television that is unable to work, due to the fact that there is no electricity in Gensokyo.

Sanae and Ail sit on the left-side couch, leaning their heads on each others' shoulders and closing their eyes, obviously enjoying their quiet time together.

Kanako walks over to them, sits on the couch in front, stares at Ail, who has opened his eyes to look back, then ask "so, you actually were just going to let her win again?"

Ail raises his head and nods, then says "I started to enjoy the battle, but the main reason I chose to win, was to regain her respect. At least that's what I hoped for at the time. Glad it worked."

A large drop of sweat and a nervous, sheepish smile reveals he is thinking of the other possible outcomes of their battle, which would have been quite painful for him, but he remains quiet about it.

Kanako grins, then says "well, I'm a bit glad you beat her. She was forgetting her own limitations because you just kept letting her beat and abuse you out of some foolish, lovey ideal. Now, you have her respect, and her admiration back, but you do realize what this means."

Ail nods, then says "I already told her, that fighting is just not my thing. I will grit my teeth once in a while, kick her butt sometimes, but that's it. Still, I am surprised I was able to beat her so easily. I didn't even get a scratch."

Kanako chuckles, looks at him straight in the eyes, then says "you fought Remilia during a red full moon and managed to even your powers with hers; you've fought Reimu before and survived, though mostly out of luck; you fought me and Suwako at the same time and almost kicked our butts out of the sky. You may not be the strongest in all Gensokyo, but you are strong."

Ail chuckles, scratches his left cheek, then says "heh, I wouldn't want to try a fight against Yukari, or Yuka, or even you or Suwako at full power. You'd all pulverize me."

Kanako punches him on the head, waking up Sanae in the process, then angrily says "you idiot, listen to me. True, there are some here in Gensokyo that would certainly trounce that butt of yours into shape, but underestimating yourself will only get you killed, and it is the very reason Sanae started acting the way she did!"

Sanae scratches the side of her head and yawns, then manages to groggily ask "what are you guys talking about?"

Ail is too focused on the conversation to notice Sanae, and looking back at the goddess, he asks "what do you mean? And why hit me so hard, dammit?"

Kanako frowns, points at him, then says "you have increased your powers ten-fold during your experience with the dragons, along with those weird abilities and transformations you gained. You can even stand on water Ail, just like Suwako and I can. Do I need to spell it out for you? Okay, sure, you may not be as powerful as Yukari, but you can easily contend with her as you are."

Ail raises an eyebrow, being unable to believe what Kanako is saying to him.

It's true that he feels a bit stronger, and he hasn't really been using spell cards to their fullest, but matching Yukari is something he just can't believe at the moment.

Sanae suddenly drops onto Ail's lap and wraps her arms around his waist, and as she looks up to him, she says "Ail-kun is strong, but he is also kind! Kanako, don't give him foolish ideas! Besides, next time we have a battle, I'm going to beat him, proving he's not all that, and he will have to rub my feet for a week afterward!"

Ail chuckles, nods, then says "you're on. But don't think I'll go easy on you again."

Kanako sighs with annoyance, while Ail and Sanae smile and giggle at each other, then Ail opens a gap right in front of himself, and says "it's raining madly, so I better get home. Budou must be frightened."

Sanae gets up and lets him stand up and enter his gap, and when he turns around to say goodbye, she grabs his face and gives him a long kiss, then softly says "I'll be waiting for Ail-kun's return."

Ail blushes and smiles goofily, then quietly nods and his gap closes off.

Sanae quickly glares at Kanako sitting in front of her, then says "stop giving him such stupid ideas! Really, what were you thinking?"

Kanako rests her chin on her linked fingers, looks up at Sanae with her scowled eyes, then says "I'm making sure he knows who he is, Sanae. Besides, you're the one who started this."

Sanae stares at the goddess with an estranged look, and can't find any words to say to defend her current argument.

* * *

The heavy rains continue through to the night, and show no signs of stopping, so now, the Hakurei Shrine is one packed can of sardines.

Reimu looks a bit annoyed, resting her head on her right arm, while sitting to the right of her table, but she knows getting angry now is no good, so she just sighs it off.

In her living room are Reisen, Toyohime, Yorihime, and Mystia, and seems the night sparrow has a bit of an attachment to the younger of the Lunarian sister.

The girls are sitting in a semi-circle, though Mystia is standing to Yorihime's right, and is hugging her neck, and lovingly rubbing her cheek against the Lunarian's, whom does not really seem to mind.

Aya and Hatate have already taken many pictures of such loving scenery, and now sit next to Reimu, with Suzaku between them, and the godly bird is making sure neither tengu moves another muscle until dinner is served.

Marisa, Mima and Suika all hold a cup filled with sake each, though Suika's is much larger, and she keeps drinking it down quickly, and offering more to the aliens beside her, even when they decline.

They are, after all, part of the large semi-circle that's taking a good chunk of space to the right of the shrine's living room.

In the kitchen, surprisingly enough, Tenshi and Kogasa are helping Rika prepare the meal, and both are soaking wet after going out on their own to pick up rice, fish and vegetables from the storage house, even with Kogasa's umbrella covering a bit of the rain.

Rika seems to be a little edgy with Tenshi and Kogasa there, so the celestial and the karakasa have been very quiet, and only speak if needed.

From the semi-circle, Marisa lifts her smiling face toward the kitchen, and loudly asks "is dinner ready yet?"

Reisen leans over and taps Marisa on the knee and says "hey, don't hurry them. They're working as fast as they can."

Marisa chuckles and replies "I'm just hungry."

Mima wraps her right arm around Marisa's waist, cheers, then says "she's just a growin' girl!"

Toyohime giggles, mimics Mima and wraps her arm around Reisen's waist, then cheers "it's a Party, Udonge! Let's cut loose!"

Without any warning, or any effort from her part at all, Toyohime grabs the back of Reisen's shirt and pulls it right off, showing off the moon-rabbits well-endowed womanhood hiding in a pastel-pink bra.

When Reisen notices what happened, she blushes hard, gasps loudly, then crosses her arms over her chest, then screams "KYAH! Give me my shirt baaaack!"

Toyohime notices the shirt and stares at it, then says "wow, that actually worked."

Yorihime looks annoyed at her sister, then says "hmph. Aren't you the one that says things should be done right and fast? Really, apply your own ideals already."

Toyohime giggles, drops Reisen's shirt on the floor, then happily says "but I really wasn't expecting this."

Suika grabs Reisen's shirt before the moon rabbit can, hops on to her feet, then swings the shirt over her head and calls "WHO WANTS A SEXY BUNNY SHIRT? C'MON! Anyone?"

From the table, Aya twitches and says "th-that's... that's a scoop for the front pages!"

Hatate starts to sweat, then says "I could, like, beat Aya's paper to the ground with that much sex appeal!"

Both tengu turn to Suzaku and plea at the same time, Aya saying "c-come on lady Suzaku! Let me get that! I'll be good afterward!"

And Hatate says "I swear, I'll work twice as hard for Rika-sis' well being if you let me get that. Seriously, it's like, one awesome scoop!"

Suzaku lifts up, raises both wings, flies above the two tengu's heads, and in a flash, she pecks both so many times, they have several bumps on their heads by the time the pain reaches them.

They hold their heads and groan, then Reimu looks at them through the corner of her eyes, and casually says "that's what perverts get."

From the kitchen, Rika nervously calls "di-dinner is ready! P-Pleas, um... help y-yourselves!"

Reisen has her shirt clutched with her right hand and tries to pull it away from Suika, while holding on to her bouncing chest with her left arm.

Suika isn't even struggling with the moon rabbit, but when Rika mentions 'dinner', she lets go of that shirt, letting Reisen roll backward into the bathroom, then cheers "alright! Time to eat~!"

When the hungry girls, Marisa, Suika, Toyohime, Aya and Hatate, rush to the kitchen, Rika yelps and jumps to the wall, flattens herself against it as best she can, and when she's clear, she runs back to her room.

Reimu and Tenshi watch bitterly as the maid leaves, and want to go after her, but they don't want to start another battle, especially at night, and under such storm, nor they want to scare Rika away.

After Yorihime, Reisen and Mima join the girls at the kitchen counters, Tenshi walks over to Reimu with a plate for each, both containing a bit of fish, steamed vegetable, and some rice on the side, then says "not the most presentable meal, but do enjoy."

Without thinking much about it, Reimu asks "so, you think we should work together for her?"

Tenshi gazes toward the corridor's door, but before she answers, Suzaku hops on the table and says "_allow her some time, and stop your stupid fighting. You are going to give the poor child a heart attack._"

Tenshi and Reimu both twitch with their chop-sticks in their mouths after Suzaku's blunt words, then Reimu says "yeah, I know, I'm sorry. I'll just try something more subtle next time."

Tenshi glares at Reimu, a glint escapes her right eye, but simply keeps quiet and continues eating her meal.

* * *

Meanwhile, over at Ail's house.

Ail walks out of his gap into the center of his living room, and Budou immediately rushes to him and wraps her arms and legs around his torso.

Whimpering and trembling, the little bat youkai says "p-p-papa. Th-the r-r-rain won't st-st-st-stop!"

Ail pats the back of her head and softly says "there, there, it's alright. I'm..." and that's when he notices someone is missing.

He looks around the living room and asks "where's mom?"

Right after asking that, Ail yelps, blushes, then jumps behind the love-seat and shouts "for the love of- MOM, PUT A DAMNED SHIRT ON!"

Ayalina stands in the middle of the corridor to the rooms, wearing only a white bra, and matching panty.

She looks a little annoyed toward Ail's voice and says "come now, earlier you said I was hot, now you are disgusted! Make up your mind!"

Budou looks at Ail's red face, and nervously asks "p-p-papa, are you s-s-s-sick?"

Ail trembles a bit, forces a struggling smile, then says "not yet. But I might be, very soon."

From the backrest of the seat, over Ail's head, a blonde girl with yellow eyes stares at the boy and the bat youkai, and casually asks "say, can I have that last piece of cake in the fridge?"

Yuki, the mischievous, fire-wielding witch from Makai, wears a pink bra, a pastel-blue panty, and has her semi-bare curvy figure on Ail's love-seat at the moment.

Ail's eyes intensify when he notices the Makaian's semi-nakedness, then asks "what the hell? Why is Yuki in my house wearing only a pair of panties and a bra?"

He growls, then asks "and why is my mother also running around her son's house, in her underwear?"

Ayalina giggles, then says "well, miss Yuki came by looking for shelter from the rain. I couldn't just say no to her, so I let her in. After that, I had her take those soaked clothes off to dry in the bathroom, and she looked so comfortable, I just had to do the same."

Ail's face returns to normal, his lips wriggle, his eyes lose strength, then he sighs in defeat, wriggles a smile, then says "Yuki, it's fine, go take the cake. Mom, please put on some clothes and get Yuki a towel. You are setting a very bad example for Budou. Budou, please don't mimic your grandmother."

The little bat youkai replies with a terrified nod and a whimper while clinging on tightly on Ail's left shoulder.

Thunder and lightning strike at the same time, Budou screams and clings on tighter, and Ail wants nothing more than to comfort the little girl, but with Cirno now clinging hard to his right arm, it makes it harder for him to move.

He suddenly gasps and gets up with the two trembling girls clinging on his arms, and looks to the kitchen, where both Ayalina and Yuki are still in their underwear while eating sweets.

Ignoring this, Ail says "mom, Yuki, do me a favor and take care of these two for a bit. I need to do something real quick."

* * *

At the Hakurei Shrine, Toyohime, Yorihime, Mystia and Reisen are looking out the slightly opened sliding door to the front of the shrine with a bored look on their faces.

They watch as the raindrops smash against the wet ground without stop, and when they look up, it is obvious this will go on all night.

Hatate and Aya sit between Reimu, and continue to bug the poor maiden into reading an old newspaper from each, and Reimu looks like she's ready to start plucking some feathers with her teeth.

Mima and Marisa are doing their best to entertain Kogasa and Suika with a display of various simple spells, and even though the youkai and oni look quite amused, the magician and the spirit are starting to get tired and annoyed.

Tenshi is over at the doorway to the rooms corridor, peeking every three second over to Rika's room out of actual concern for her long-time friend.

Suzaku flies over to Tenshi's left shoulder and says to the celestial "_give it a rest. She won't come out if you keep doing this._"

Tenshi looks at Suzaku, then whispers "you mean she knows?"

Suzaku nods, then Tenshi presses her back against the wall to the side and says "man, and I tried to hide myself well."

There is a sudden loud buzz coming from the very center of the living room, and sounding greatly relieved, Reimu exclaims "finally! Someone that can help!"

The rest of the girls remain quiet as they place their full attention on Ail, who now stands in the center of the living room, and just as he gasps some air to speak, the girls flock to him, all of them shouting demands to be taken home, all at the same time.

Ail ends up in a daze, and is unable to tell left form right, then the girls closest to him each grab a limb, then pull.

Ail laughs loud and nervously, then shouts "someone SAVE **MEEEEE**!"

Charms and amulets fly straight and true toward Ail, then surprisingly veer away from him and strike the surrounding girls on the face, and once the Lunarians and tengu, the most desperate to leave, are on their seats on the floor, Reimu flies to Ail, helps him up, and loudly says "ONE AT A TIME, you savages!"

It takes a very short while to get the girls in line, and now Ail sits a foot over the floor on the air next to the small table, waiting for the girls to request a gap to their destinations.

The first ones are the Lunarians, with the night sparrow and the moon rabbit.

Ail opens a gap straight inside Eintei's corridors, then says "watch your step, ladies."

Toyohime and Reisen are the first to jump in, and before Yorihime enters with Mystia, the Lunarian looks sternly at Ail, points at her own eyes with her fingers, then points those fingers at Ail and half-smiles.

Ail chuckles nervously, waves at Yorihime, then she and Mystia jump inside his gap.

Next are Aya and Hatate, but before Ail opens the next gap, Aya exclaims "whoa, whoa, wait! Don't open a gap inside the village."

Hatate quickly adds "we'll all get in trouble for that. Open it over the entrance."

Ail looks at the girls with a bit of surprise, opens a gap next to a large white and gold door on the mountain, and even though there is no actual cover from the rain, Hatate jumps in, and Aya says "thanks Ail. See you later!", and jumps in after Hatate.

Next is Kogasa and her broken umbrella, and happily says "Myouren Temple, please!"

Ail smiles back to Kogasa, opens a gap to the Myouren's living house living room, then Kogasa jump in and exclaims "thanks Ail."

From the other side of the gap, a woman exclaims "Kogasa, you poor thing! Where have you been?"

Ail closes the gap, then Tenshi and Suika approach him.

Tenshi looks tired, sad, and just can't lift her head.

Ail's face fills with concern, but before he can even ask, Tenshi softly says "Bahva-Agra, please."

Ail nods, opens the gap, then asks "hey, are you alright?"

Tenshi lifts her head and looks at Ail with her usual intensity, nods, then jumps into the gap.

Before he closes it, Suika gets closer to him, pats his right thigh, then says "don't cha' worry about 'er. I'll keep her company!"

The little oni summersaults into the gap, then it closes up.

Finally, Marisa gets close, grins and waves, then Ail smiles as he rolls his eyes, then opens a gap straight into the living room of Marisa's house.

The witch peeks inside the gap, then looks at Ail and says "nice peep-hole you got here, Ail. So how many times do you peep on Sanae?"

A vein pulsates on Ail's forehead as he smiles ominously, but before he speaks, Marisa gasps, giggles, then says "oh, now I get it. You peep on other girls, don't you, you playboy you!"

Still smiling, Ail raises his right index finger, shoots a small laser forward, and before Marisa can point out how badly he missed, a small gap open behind her and the beam blasts her butt straight into the larger gap to her house.

* * *

Right after the last gap closes, Ail looks around, and the only ones with him are Reimu and Suzaku, Seeing as Mima just phased her way out the back of the shrine.

Ail smiles at Suzaku and waves his fingers at her, but she suddenly takes flight and says "_sorry, I need to check on Rika-sama!"_

After she leaves, Reimu walks closer to Ail, then asks "so, did you really come over here just to help me get rid of them?"

Ail slowly floats down to the ground, tilts his head to the left as he rolls his eyes, and when he touches the ground, he says "I just took a wild guess."

Reimu chuckles along with Ail, then demands "out with it."

Ail smiles, then asks "can you do something about that sword?"

Reimu's lips straighten, and says "so, you noticed."

Ail nods and says "that energy was a real kick in the butt, so there's no way I could have missed it."

Reimu nods, then Ail continues "Reimu, that sword is very dangerous for youkai and humans alike. Can't you seal its power in a spell card?"

Reimu shakes her head and says "it's out of my jurisdiction. We'll just have to trust Drake, and hope nothing forces him to use it."

Ail lowers his head and stares to the floor, as though in thought, then says "alright then, I'll keep an eye on him. If he even reaches for it, I'll stop him before he-"

Reimu furiously tackles Ail to the ground and pins him down, then shouts "don't start getting yourself in danger, you idiot! Are you suicidal or something? No, don't you even get close to him and that sword! I'll just talk to him. Maybe I can convince him to hand it over for a bit."

Ail stares with confusion at Reimu.

For a moment, he thought he was looking at Sanae; the way Reimu looked at him for a brief moment is the same look of concern the Moriya Shrine maiden looks at him when he does something dangerous.

He shrugs this off when her eyes become more fierce than concerned, then smiles and says "alright, you try that, But Reimu, if he doesn't accept those terms, at least allow me to keep tabs on him."

Reimu's eyes hide under the shadow of her hair as she snarls at Ail, who just smiles confidently back at her, then says "bah, you idiot! Fine, but if something happens to you, I swear, I'll kill you three more times! I'll deal with Sanae after that."

Ail continues to smile confidently, and chuckles as Reimu gets off him and allows him to sit up.

He rubs Reimu's head as he would do to Budou, then says "sister is a worry wart. Don't worry. That sword is dangerous, but my own weapons of light can easily deflect his."

Reimu remains looking sadly at the floor to Ail's right, then Ail's smile turns around to a frown when he asks "and what about Rika?"

Reimu quickly places her hand on her face, maybe to cover her shame, then says "ugh, I started to fight with the others instead of helping her. We ended up making it much worse for her."

Ail sighs, then chuckles and says "you girls are so aggressive, you know that. You need to lighten up a bit. Work together. Stop being so selfish. After all, it's Rika who needs you. She's never been selfish when helping, right?"

Reimu twitches; those words hit her hard and low, but she cannot deny them.

She manages a murderous smirk as she says "y-yeah, I know. Don't remind me."

Ail sweats and smiles nervously, then says "whoa there, just trying to help."

He looks toward the left-side exit; the rain seems to be dying down a bit, at least, but now lightning and light thunder are taking its place.

He stands up and helps Reimu on her feet, then turns around and says "well, better get going. Ugh, I hope mom and Yuki put on some damned clothes. Idiots! If Budou starts doing the same, I'll..."

Reimu laughs, grins mischievously, then asks "trouble, Anilan?"

Ail face palms, sighs, and sounding tired, he says "you have no idea."

He opens a gap slowly flies to it, and before entering it, Reimu calls "Ail, wait!"

Ail stops and turns his head, notices the genuine worry on Reimu's face, even though she keeps trying to look away, and waits for her to speak.

Reimu turns her head and smiles at him as she softly says "please take care. And please stop getting into such dangerous situations."

Ail stares concernedly at Reimu, and in a reassuring tone, replies "don't worry, I'll be alright.", then he smiles and adds "and as soon as I can find a good moment to sit my butt and relax, I will."

Reimu and Ail exchange light smiles, then Ail flies backward inside his gap and disappears.

Reimu remains standing in the same spot, looking longingly forward, and remains unaware of Mima hiding underneath the floor, looking around herself as though looking for something, then quickly disappears.

* * *

Ail opens a gap into the back of his living room, and as soon as he looks to the love seat, he smiles at the sight of Cirno sleeping on Yuki, who has a thick white blanket covering her body.

Seems the little ice fairy and the fire witch, an unlikely duo, fell asleep while waiting for the rain to stop.

Still, Cirno whimpers whenever there is a thunder-strike, even if it is a weak one.

He quietly makes his way into the corridor and peeks into Budou's room.

Ayalina, who has a long pink pajama on, is sleeping with the little bat youkai on the small bed.

It's a little strange to Ail, seeing Budou sleeping on a bed, instead of upside-down on the ceiling.

He smiles at the sight and quietly closes the door, then immediately heads to his room.

For this night, at least, the master room is still his, so he's going to enjoy his last night sleeping there, but before he can sleep, he needs a bath, evident the moment he raises his right arm and grimaces after sniffing his armpit.

After a long and relaxing bath, Ail walks into the room, wearing a ridiculous white sleeping robe, minus the stupid coned hat at least, holding his towel under his left arm, and with a content look on his face, he walks over to his bed at the far-end, right-most side of the room.

To the right of the bed is the tiny walk-in closet with his many spare clothes.

Against the wall in the forward-most wall of the room is his cabinet, which has a few nick-knacks and an unused comb on it, and the wall in front of the bed is empty of any ornaments or anything to personalize it.

As Ail walks to his bed, his smile vanishes, and with a bit of annoyance in his voice, he sighs and asks "what is it now?"

Mima materializes on top of the bed with a stern look on her face that Ail knows too well.

He sighs, smiles warmly, then asks "Mima, what happened?"

Mima bluntly replies "Ail, I want you to stay away from Reimu for a few days."

Ail tilts his head to the right, showing great confusion as he runs through an imaginary maze inside his brain, yet somehow manages to ask "eh... what? I, uh... what?"

Mima smiles and grabs his cheeks, squeezes them, then exclaims "so cute!", then lets him go and looking more seriously, she says "she's not feeling well, and your being there isn't helping her. Please, just stay away from the shrine for two, maybe three days. At least until she recovers herself."

Ail absentmindedly nods, then asks "but what's wrong? Is she alright?"

Mima regains her usual smile; she flaps her hand in the air and says "let's just say something annoying pecked at her. She'll be fine soon, so don't you worry about it. You have another task to take care of, right?"

Ail chuckles, nods, then says "but I gave her my word. I won't get in the way until after she tries her little negotiation."

Mima smiles gleefully and says "you know that will fail!"

Ail returns the smile with his own, then asks "but I didn't say it, did I?"

Mima giggles, then says "and here I thought you really were stupid. You're just dense after all. Two equal differences."

Ail's smile turns stiff, a drop of sweat rolls down the left side of his head, then he asks "was that supposed to be a compliment?"

Mima giggles, waves at him, then turns invisible as she phases through the farthest back wall, making the window rattle a bit, then Ail takes two steps to his bed, falls like a cut tree, and somehow ends up covered in his sheets, with his head perfectly centered on his pillows.

* * *

The next morning, the sun rises to create a beautiful sparkling artwork of all the droplets that fall from the leaves on the trees near Ail's house.

The front door to the house bursts open, and from inside, Yuki walks out, yawning and stretching, wearing her round black hat with the white ribbon, her black vest with white bordered collar and thin ribbon, her pink shirt underneath said vest, her long black skirt, and her pink socks and black slip-on shoes.

After her yawn, she looks around and says "wow, I should take a picture of this scenery. But of course, I would need a camera for that!"

Ayalina and Budou walk outside afterward, then make their way to the left, Budou calling "come on papa and Cirno! Move it! I want to show gramma Ayalina to mama Sanny already!"

Ail grunts as he slowly makes his way out the door, and manages to roar "I'm trying! Cirno, let go already!"

From inside the house, Cirno screams "NOOOO! That thing is out there!"

Ail pulls harder and manages to pull half of the ice fairy out, and says "I know, but we'll be there with you! Stop being such a coward!"

Yuki grabs Ail by his waist and excitedly says "here, I'll help you!", then pulls with all her might.

Ail and Cirno scream when Yuki pulls them so hard, they are both sent flying backward toward the trees in front of the house, and with a satisfied smile on her face, Yuki shuts the door to the house, claps the dust off her hands, and says "there. Mission accomplished!"

Ayalina and Budou clap as they 'aw' in admiration, to which Yuki turns to them to bow while saying "thank you. Thank you very much. I'll be here until bath-day."

Tough Budou and Ayalina continue to clap, they can't help but raise an eyebrow and look at each other after that rather over-informative statement.

Meanwhile, Ail had his back slammed against the thick tree, while Cirno used his stomach as a cushion, but now they are both recovering, though groaning as though in pain.

He holds the little ice fairy as he pulls himself free from the tree, then walks over to Yuki and says "man, you have some strength in you."

Cirno sighs after trying to free herself from Ail's grip and fails, so she gives up, and rests her head on her right hand, using Ail's arm to support her elbow, then says "well, if that thing appears again, I'm blaming you, Ail!"

Totally ignoring Cirno, Yuki chuckles and says "I'm not strong. You're just wimpy."

Right as Ail opens up his mouth to complain, a swirling purple vortex appears under his and Yuki's feet and sucks him, Cirno, and Yuki inside, then closes up fast.

Budou and Ayalina scream, and when they reach the point of the vortex, Budou kneels next to the central spot and calls "PAPA! PAPA, CIRNO, YUKI! Gramma, the ground ate them!"

Ayalina quickly grabs the little youkai and pulls her away, furiously saying "GET BACK!"

Budou starts to sob out of fright and confusion, then Ayalina says "sorry sweetie, but there's very powerful magic there."

She looks around and asks "Budou, is there someone that could help? Someone that can deal with vortexes and stuff!"

Budou immediately replies "mama Sanny! She can help!"

Ayalina throws Budou to the air, forcing her to fly, flies after the little bat youkai, then exclaims "take me there, now! We have to work fast to save Ail!"

* * *

Near the western exit of the Human Village, there is a white, two-story house with a blue roof.

Flowers adorn the several windows on the first and second floors, and hanging from the west-side roof-flap edge is a wind chime that plays the most beautiful and soothing tune, even with the slightest breeze.

Inside is the rather large living room that has a single brown couch at the center, and to the right of the entrance, making said entrance into a small corridor, are the doors to the bathroom, and the toilet room, and by the looks of things, the bathroom is quite a large room.

To the far end of the first floor is the dining room and kitchen.

The dining table is short, and is adorned with a large blue flower vase filled with a variety of flowers on the center of a lavender mantle.

The kitchen, though small, has all the necessary equipment; a rather modern oven, made by the kappa, with a not-so-modern stove on top, a long counter to its left, a few cabinets over and below the counter, and the sink to the left of said counter.

There is also one large window on the farthest-left wall that illuminates the area perfectly.

The stairs leading to the second floor separate the large living room from the kitchen, and with the many pictures hanging on it, it is obvious someone doesn't like plain walls, and seems to be in the process of filling the rest of the house with all sorts of adornments.

On the second floor is one straight corridor leading to three rooms; the master bedroom to the right, and two smaller rooms to the left.

The rest of the floor remains unused at the time, though some empty boxes fill some of those unused corners.

Kaizo Yumeda, preferably referred to as Kyo, the short-fused party-lover, stands right in front of the door to his house, taking a deep breath of morning air to stretch out his lungs.

He has tanned skin, spiky black hair, brown eyes that look as though he's scowling, and is currently wearing a pair of lose white pants, showing off his toned, buff and muscular body to the neighbors.

The women seem to enjoy the morning view, but the men looks a little irked about it.

From inside, holding on to a cup of coffee, walks Luna Rivers, the aggressively loving girlfriend.

She has long silver hair with red highlights she ties into a ponytail with a green ribbon, silver eyes, and a small star-shaped birthmark on her right cheek.

She wears a dark-blue dress that accents her athletic figure, a pair of tight white pants underneath, a pair of red geta sandals with a single platform, a lose brown belt with a sword sheathed on each side, and two black clips on either side of the head.

She kisses Kyo's cheek as she offers the cup of coffee, and after successfully making him smile, she smiles along and says "good morning sleepyhead."

From the living room, a girl asks "oh please. You're going to act all mushy so early in the morning?"

Looking rather annoyed as she stands next to the couch is Medicine Melancholy, the adopted, poisonous youkai doll, and flying next to her is her own doll and companion, Su-San.

Medicine has short blonde hair and blue eyes, and wears a dark-purple shirt with red strings that make a cross on the center of her chest, a puffy red skirt with dark-purple strings around the borders, pink socks, red shoes, a large white bow around her waist, and a large red ribbon on her head.

Su-San wears the exact same clothes, except her shirt is red, her skirt is dark-purple, and she has a pair of thin crystal wings.

Medicine taps her foot as she stares angrily at the two lovers, then, from outside, Kyo says "here's the deal. You either shut up, or Luna and I will get extra-loving all over the house. Pick your poison."

Medicine feels her stomach churn at the thought, and while holding her stomach with her left arm, she stretches her right arm and waves her hand left and right, along with her whimpering head and cries "I'll be good."

* * *

A few minutes later, Kyo walks out of the house wearing a black muscle shirt underneath a dark-blue, unbuttoned button shirt, long black pants, and wooden sandals.

Before closing the door, he calls "Luna, gonna jog around the village now. You comin'?"

From inside, Luna replies "sorry, I need to finish cleaning the room... **to-day**!"

Kyo sighs though he smiles, closes the door, then takes his first steps away from the house, though stops almost immediately.

A purple swirling vortex, the same one that swallowed Ail, Cirno and Yuki before, appears underneath Kyo's feet, but instead of sucking him in, the vortex snaps and pushes him away, then vanishes like nothing ever happened.

Unknown to Kyo, the moment that happened, Gensokyo's barrier resonated with the vortex.

Kyo stumbles backward and falls on to his seat on the ground, then looks around in confusion and exclaims "what the heck was that?"

From inside, Luna calls "Kyo, is everything alrigh-UGH!"

After hearing Luna choke like that, Kyo springs to his feet and calls "Luna, what's wrong?", but suddenly feels dizzy and sick, falls on his knees, and feels as though his life is about to end.

Just like that, the feeling stops, Kyo breathes heavily through his mouth, stands up, and again he asks himself "what the- ...What the heck was **THAT**?"

When he looks at the wide road on front of his house, he sees Drake standing boldly in the very middle of it.

He wears a red shirt, instead of the white one from before, his dirty and tattered vest is also missing, and his bandana is now sky-blue, instead of blood red.

At first, Kyo thinks of greeting the sudden guest from up close, but when he sees the sword on the boy's back, he starts having second thoughts.

Right from where he stands, Kyo bravely calls "oi, kid! Who are you?"

Drake turns his head to Kyo, stares defiantly, then turns his whole body around and coldly says "Drake Starstriker."

Kyo squints his eyes to get a better look at the boy, then asks "so, Drake, you aren't here to cause any trouble now, are you?"

Drake continues staring coldly at Kyo, and coldly says "you address me so familiarly already, human. Tell me, are you the guardian of this place?"

Kyo coldly replies "and if I am?"

Drake takes a defensive stance, scowls, then exclaims "you liar! You can't be human! That energy around you is of an evil spirit! You are a demon!"

Kyo summons his round white shield with circling wind blades to her left arm, takes a defensive position, then says "and you just crossed the line, Drake!"

Kyo and Drake charge toward each other, and with a quick gesture of his palm, Drake strikes Kyo's shield and sends him spinning backward to the house.

Kyo manages to stop himself before crashing against the wall, by pushing himself up with a sudden move of his back in mid-spin and landing firmly on his feet.

He trembles with fury as he stares at Drake, then says to himself "what in the name of stale crap, is this? He didn't look so tough, yet he pushed me away like I was nothing. I might need some backup here."

Drake summons holy energy to his right hand, looks directly at Kyo, then says "I care not if this land belong to you demons. You are all untrustworthy, and must be destroyed!"

Beads of cold sweat cover Kyo's forehead as he looks into Drake's eyes and sees the burning fury in them.

He knows this kid is out to kill him, and if things play as they are right now, Drake will probably succeed in doing so, and without even breaking a sweat.

All Kyo can do now is hope for a miracle while he does all he can to survive the attack.

* * *

At the SDM's library, Meiling is hidden away, sleeping on top of a large book that she was apparently reading on an old wooden desk, and her hand and head are about to slide off it and drop to the ground beside the wooden desk.

Sakuya and Lina are watching her from the corner of a nearby bookshelf, and are counting the time it takes for her to fall, and when the arms slides off, Sakuya chuckles softly and excitedly whispers "I told you. She's going to fall in less than three minutes."

Lina sighs, then says "and here I was thinking I could rely on miss Meiling. Still, it's a bit cruel that we do not help her. She's going to be so confused when she falls like that."

Sakuya chuckles mischievously, then says "that's what she gets for sleeping on the job again."

At that very moment, the chair supporting Meiling moves slightly back, her head slides off the book, and screams mid-way down, followed promptly by a disturbing, metallic clang.

The chair rolls away from the gate guard when she stutters while trying to get up, but her foot slips, and falls back down, making yet another loud metallic clank.

Lina sighs and sounding a bit disappointed, she says "alright miss Sakuya, I owe you one meal. Now let's help the poor thing before she hits her head again."

Sakuya giggles, then says "right, right. You know, you are very kind, miss Kori."

They approach the confused gate guard, each grab her by one arm, then help her up as she asks "watta? What happened? Who... who put that washtub there?"

On the floor, right behind the desk, is a golden washtub that has been turned over, and placed exactly underneath Meiling.

Lina scowls at Sakuya, who elegantly covers her mouth as she giggles, then says "well, it wouldn't be much of a punishment if nothing actually happened."

Elsewhere in the library, Koakuma, who has recovered her regular clothes, is studying furiously, reading through book after book, maybe even as much as Patchouli would, though, unlike her mistress, she is starting to get a bit bored of it.

When she notices this, she lightly slaps her right cheek and thinks "no Koakuma, you must focus! You need to find a way to overcome that demon miko, and that brutish celestial. Just a few more pages Koakuma. Then you can do some chores, and return with the next book."

Meanwhile, Patchouli, whom has also recovered her clothes, flies above the library, along with some books and a teacup filled with brown tea, and right below her is Leon, who is flapping his arms wildly in a pathetic attempt to fly.

He stops to recover his breath, looks up at Patchouli, then calls "Patchouli Knowledge, my love! Please come down here! I cannot tend to your needs if you're all the way up there."

Patchouli smiles, takes a sip of her tea, and happily says to herself "oh, that is just perfect. Just perfect."

A red and yellow, and pink and blue blurs move around Leon, and after they leave, a golden sword pin and a pink charm appear before his feet.

He bends down to look at them, gasps with a wide smile, then picks them up.

Above, Patchouli continues to laugh softly as she repeats to herself "so perfect. It's just perfect.", but her smile suddenly vanishes when Leon says to her "much better. Now I can take care of my love!"

Patchouli screams with fright, her books and teacup fall to the ground below; thankfully, Sakuya saves them all just in time; then turns around to furiously point at Leon, and shouts "that's just **PERFECT**!"

She suddenly realizes what she just said, but it's too late to take back her words.

Leon tackles her with a tight hug, squeezing her breasts out if hiding once more, while Flandre and Remilia laugh and roll around the second floor balcony.

Flandre sniffles as she flicks a joyful tear from underneath her left eye and exclaims "we should keep a record of this, onee-sama!"

Remilia stops laughing to smile proudly as she reveals a large book with a red cover that has a golden bat insignia on it from under her shirt, then says "already being taken care of, Flan. I already had a word with the tengu girls, and they should provide us with photos to add visual references for each chapter."

Flandre squeals with glee as she claps her hands, then hugs Remilia and says "that's my onee-sama! Always thinking ahead!"

Remilia's cheeks turn pink as the pats her sister's head and says "yeah, yeah, that's enough Flan."

The vampire sisters suddenly yelp when they find themselves trapped in a ring of fire, and from outside said ring, Patchouli furiously shouts "YOU DID THIS! I'm going to have to PUNISH YOU!"

Her robe suddenly disappears, leaving her pajamas and well-endowed womanly figure exposed, her spell cancels out when she attempts to covers herself up with her arms, and when she looks behind herself, Leon holds her robe against his cheek with a blissful smile, and says "I'm sorry, I just wanted to help you relax. I just came off... and it's so soft and warm."

The content look on his face sickens the magician, but the feeling of dread overtakes the feeling of sickening rage when she notices the two vampire mistresses flying beside her with mischievous smiles.

Flandre sinisterly asks "so, who's going to punish who now?"

Remilia hisses, then sinisterly says "Patchy~, you know what will save you, so I suggest you either get-to-it, or receive your punishment."

Patchouli's miserable face can only reflect a fraction of the misery she is feeling now.

She wears a black maid's dress with an open cleavage, and she is currently giving the young vampires a bath in one large ceramic bathtub, while taking on all their mischievous bathroom pranks.

The magician sighs as she looks up to the ceiling, then says "I just want my peace back. Just peace..."

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Ayalina, Leon, Lina, Drake, Luna and Kyo were created by Willie G.R.

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

APR 14 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**What can I say? Another chapter already. I am FREAKING GLAD! My muse was working overtime for this, and I hope she does the same for the crossover. Oh yes, I need to continue working on that one as well! Seriously, I'm long overdue! Another one that's overdue is the Almost Pirates fic. I will do my best to work on the latter at the same time I work on the cross' next chapter.**

**Now, I want to give you all a warning: Drake Starstriker is a seriously overpowered OC, though not unbeatable. He is easily at the very same level as Reimu and Yukari, as he is now, and there are still a few stronger than him. Still, you have been warned. Now, aside from that, I think I trolled the girls a little too much in this chapter. Bah, who am I kidding I LOVE doing that stuff, and will continue to do it more and more. Still, for some odd reason I have been neglecting the mountain goddesses. I had a good chance to mess them up... yet I didn't. Maybe I am messing with Patchouli and Koakuma too much... I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, sadly, from what I mentioned above, chapter 5 will take a bit before I post it, but do not worry, I will do my best to work as fast as possible for its posting. Until then, take care, and thank you for reading all the way down here.**


	5. Chapter 5

It's a beautifully and rather early morning at the Hakurei Shrine when the sliding doors to Rika's room slowly and quietly open up on their own.

Peeking through the small open space is Reimu Hakurei, who's eye trails straight toward the neck of her maid.

Rika lies face-up on the futon in such an elegant and peaceful pose, it would be a crime if she were to be woken up because of some foolish and selfish mistake.

As she opens the sliding doors the shrine maiden admires the white straps of Rika's pajamas, and how warm and comfortable those sheets look on the maid.

Reimu gulps as she silently walks her way toward her maid at the center of the room.

She kneels down and pushes the bit of hair off Rika's shoulder, but twitches when the maid snores softly and mumbles.

When Rika resumes her peaceful sleep, Reimu thinks "_phew! That was close. Reimu, you need to be more careful!_"

The maiden looks at her maid's neck and smiles when she finds what she was looking for. She grabs the black lace of Rika's sapphire yin-yang, which hides away upon reaching the maid's bosom, and slowly pulls it off, though as she does, Rika snores softly, her cheeks turn pink, then she moans "m-mama? H-help me."

Reimu stops, allows Rika to recover and fall back to sleep, then mentally sighs, pulls the necklace out of Rika's pajamas, then lifts the maid's head as gently as she can in order to remove the necklace, then trails the black lace around the shrine maid's hair.

Reimu smiles after successfully removing the necklace and gently placing Rika's head back on the pillow, stares at the sapphire yin-yang as she hangs it from her left hand, then grabs it with her other hand and gets up.

The lovely maid turns sideways and grabs Reimu's right leg, moans, then slowly flaps her wings, smiles and sighs "warms... my lady's peach pies...some."

The shrine maiden's eyes intensify, her face fills with terror, and her cheeks turn pink upon the sight of Rika's bare back and those tiny wings flapping softly like that.

The pajamas are made so that Rika's wings are free to move without getting tangled, but the hole on the back is left so low, it's only a matter of a single push, a gust of wind, or a skillful pull, and that set of clothes could become something more than just sleep-wear.

Reimu shivers as she thinks "_oh crap. She's gonna wake up! Her back is bare! Her wings are flapping! She's going to catch me, I'm going to die, and I won't get my request fulfilled. Focus Reimu! You can do this!_"

At that moment, Rika turns over on her back again and leaves herself a bit more exposed, with her arms spread over her head and her chest free of the sheets as she smiles in her sleep.

Reimu sighs softly, quickly tip-toes out of the room, quickly, but silently closes the doors, and once outside she says to herself "good. Now to get this thing upgraded."

The shrine maiden walks toward the living room, and when she turns to face the left exit, she smiles mischievously.

Yukari is struggling against Tenshi, who has her arms locked around the elder youkai's armpits, and although Yukari screams, her voice doesn't come out.

She's kicked the short table upside-down, she's flung her umbrella like a javelin toward the wall to the left of Reimu, and now she's trying to kick Tenshi on the ankles, but the celestial's boots are thick and prevent a full impact.

Reimu grins at the sight, then says "either you stop struggling, or I'm going to leave that mute charm on you permanently."

Yukari winds down, Tenshi sighs and says "geez, you should have done that from the start!", then Reimu just giggles and tilts her head sideways.

* * *

The red-and-white dangles the sapphire yin-yang necklace from her left hand, and as she walks over to Yukari with a friendly smile that would make you think nothing was happening, she says "now, I'm going to remove the mute charm, and you're going to listen. If you speak loudly, I will place this on you again and leave it on for a week, understand?"

Yukari glares back at Reimu in an attempt to challenge the maiden, but she quickly sighs in defeat and nods, agreeing to the terms presented to her.

Reimu places her right hand on the side of Yukari's neck, a white charm with red writing appears after the maiden touches its edge, then quickly yanks it off with a sudden pull.

Tenshi releases Yukari so that she can rub her neck, then the youkai sage summons her parasol from the wall and says "really, sending this celestial after me and kidnapping me while I was relaxing. That's low Reimu."

Tenshi sighs impatiently and says "alright, whatever you whiny youkai. Just fix that thing for us."

Yukari looks confused at the celestial behind her, then turns around when Reimu says "it's 'upgrade'. I want you to upgrade this before Rika wakes up and Suzaku comes back from her rounds."

Still slightly annoyed, Yukari asks "oh? And what kind of an '_upgrade_' are you talking about, you perverts?"

Reimu clicks her tongue, Tenshi growls, and Yukari smiles smugly.

Annoyed, the celestial says "WE want YOU to make it so that necklace allows us to know where Rika is, allow us to know how she's feeling and to communicate with her."

Reimu quickly summons her lilac yin-yang orbs and adds "similar to what you did with these."

Yukari smiles, though a vein pulsates to the left side of her forehead as she suppresses the burning desire to throttle these two girls for making such selfish request.

She smiles, yet speaks through her teeth as she says "is that all."

Reimu smiles sweetly and immediately says "please do your best."

Yukari takes her right thumb and nibbles on the nail while thinking "_low! What a low blow! I can't say no to that smiling face!_"

Sounding more calm, the youkai sage says "alright then, let me have it."

Reimu quickly hands the sapphire yin-yang, and now she and Tenshi watch Yukari with great curiosity.

The sage holds the necklace on her right hand as she raises both hands, open palm-up, at chest height from each side, closes her eyes to concentrates, and as she hums she raises her left hand over her head in an arc and places it right on top of the sapphire.

Just like that, Yukari tosses the necklace at Reimu, then says "u-fu-fu. It's done."

Reimu and Tenshi stare at the sapphire while raising an eyebrow, then the shrine maiden rightfully asks "what? That's it? Where's the other thing?"

Tenshi quickly asks "isn't there supposed to be like, another ball or something?"

The gap youkai smiles sweetly as she sinks half her body into her gap, there is a loud smacking noise and Rika's yelp coming from the maid's room, then Yukari says "as punishment for being so selfish, the receiver orb will not appear until there is an emergency, and after you get it, it won't receive anything unless it's... you guessed it, an emergency."

Both shrine maiden and celestial are ready to beat the old youkai to a pulp, Reimu growling "why you! You tricked us!"

Yukari chuckles darkly and says "and you kidnapped me for selfish requests. Now, please explain to miss Rika what you did. Ciao~!"

Yukari smiles as she waves at the girls then dives into her gap just as the maiden and celestial try to tackle her.

Tenshi grunts, then says "she escaped! Darn it all!"

Reimu rubs her chin, then asks "say, who was she waving at?"

A voice in the room says "_that would be us, mom._"

Tenshi looks confused, while Reimu trembles as she turns around with a terrified face, then smiles and nervously says "he-heh, um, good morning Rika! Did you sleep well?"

Rika stands behind Reimu and Tenshi in her silky-white pajamas and Suzaku perched on her left arm, rubbing her head and with a straight face, she asks "my lady, what's this about my necklace?"

Reimu realizes the necklace is dangling from her right hand.

She stammers nervously while she thinks what to say, then holds the yin-yang with both hands, smiles at her maid, then says "umm, we were just, er, um."

Tenshi steps up and confidently says "polishing it for you! Here!"

She takes the necklace off Reimu's hand and hands it over to Rika.

The shrine maid accepts the necklace, but remains staring at the girls.

Tears start flowing from her eyes, a sniffle escapes her as she puts her necklace back on, and through a cracking voice, she says "t-to think that my-my best friend and my trusted mistress would lie to me."

Reimu and Tenshi screech with despair upon seeing Rika react that way, then the maiden shouts "wait, wait! I'm sorry! We were just...", at the same time as the celestial says "NOOO! I'm sorry! Don't be sad! I'll speak, I'll SPEAK!"

Before either can explain, Yukari's voice echoes all over the living room as she sternly says "Reimu, you're needed!"

A purple gap opens underneath the red-and-white's feet, and as she falls, she shouts "wait! Let me explaaaiiin~!"

After the dark gap closes, Tenshi stares at the spot on the tatami floor where Reimu was standing on, then ignores what happened and turns her attention back to Rika and says "ok now, calm down! I'll explain everything."

Rika sniffles, wipes the tears off her eyes with her right hand, then Suzaku flies to her perch while saying to Rika "_this should be good._"

* * *

Later that morning, at the Human Village, Kyo stands in front of his house with his shield held tight as he readies himself for another attack from Drake.

Said boy stands by the road in front of Kyo and is holding his right hand up and aims it at the house.

Staring coldly at the shielded boy, Drake asks "so, the family you killed to steal that house. How long did you torture them before finally killing them?"

Kyo's sword ignites as he shouts "hey, butt-head! This is my house! I built it myself!"

Drake grits his teeth with a scoff and coldly says "liar.", and shoots a fireball the size of Patchouli's Solar Flare.

Kyo's sword and shield become red with the power of fire, and using all his might, he pushes Drake's fireball away from his house.

The power of the spell pushes Kyo back, but when he hears Luna's call, a surge of strength flows through him and he pushes the fireball back at the overpowered boy, who lifts his left hand and absorbs the spell back into his body.

Winded and overly anxious, the muscled sword-wielder shouts "that's a spell card leveled spell!"

Drake scoffs and says "spell cards. What a joke. I am thankful that petty rule doesn't affect me at all."

He reaches for his sword, and right after as he pulls it out, he and Kyo lock their swords in a flash, and are pushing each other back with their blades.

Drake's sword is quite the odd blade.

It's an European sword with a golden hilt, angel-wing-shaped cross guard, with the wings aiming toward the point of the blade, a dragon's head for a pommel, the grip looks ruby-red, just like Rika's sword, and the blade is one large diamond with runes written on the middle of the blade.

While pushing back with all his might, Kyo grunts "hey... th-at didn't look like THAT inside its sheath!"

The overpowered godling doesn't even look like he's struggling at all, and after he tightens the grip on his sword, a white flame inside the very blade rises from the hilt to the tip of the blade, then Drake calmly says "it's just a guise spell. Now, time to exterminate you."

From behind Kyo, Medicine shouts "Poison Sign, Poison Breath!"

A thick purple cloud surrounds the two boys and after Kyo jumps away from the cloud, Drake remains inside, coughing for a moment before completely stopping.

The cocky shielded swordsman lands to Medicine's left and says "about time."

From Medicine's right, Luna holds both gun blades and glares fiercely toward Drake and says "sorry honey, I thought you were just having fun with mister Wilson again."

Medicine looks toward Luna with her eyes and says "oh, that pervert that wants a piece of Yuka."

Kyo sighs, then says "you know I don't take this long with Lesty."

From one of the houses in front of Kyo's, all the way on the other side of the road, a man furiously shouts "it's Lester! Lester Wilson, you jackass!"

Under the doorway of the small wooden house is a tall and husky human with nearly-pale skin, brown eyes, black hair, a small beard and moustache, and wears round glasses and a simple kimono-like brown and white attire with broken brown pants.

Shield-boy looks annoyed toward his neighbor, groans, then turns his attention to Drake and says "just ignore him and he'll go away."

The thick purple gas cloud dissipates, and there is the unwanted visitor with his sword held with both hands in the very same position he was when facing against Kyo.

Medicine giggles and says "that's right, you've been paralyzed!"

Luna furiously shouts "I don't know who the HELL do you think you are, but you attacked my man, and that's enough for me to kick ass first, then ask questions later! NOW DIIIIEEEE!"

Luna jumps toward Drake with her swords held high, ignoring Kyo's shouts to get back, and from the left, a woman loudly calls "wait! Wait I said!"

Luna stops in mid-air, stares toward the source of the voice, then Kyo sighs and says "Keine, right on time."

* * *

Standing in the middle of the dirt-road that leads toward the center of the village is Keine Kamishirasawa, the history-obsessed teacher with the iron forehead.

She has brown eyes, long silver hair with blue highlights, and wears a blue hat that looks like a house with red glyphs inscribed around the borders and a large red ribbon on its tip, a long dark-blue dress with short white sleeves, a red ribbon around her collar, and a pair of white socks and brown slip-on shoes.

Also note her well-endowed womanly figure is quite visible, even with that dress and from afar.

She scowls at the people in front of her and exclaims "and what's going on here? Why is Drake paralyzed?"

Kyo takes a step forward and angrily exclaims "hey, he attacked me first! Said I was a demon, and that I had to be killed."

Keine face palms hard, sighs with annoyance, then says "right, after what Kasen wrote in her letter, I shouldn't have been so surprised."

Medicine smiles and a vein pulsates on hers, and Su-San's foreheads as she asks "so, that nagging hermit has something to do with this?"

From Kyo's right, Drake says "ah, I see. So you know Kasen. Then I apologize."

When Kyo and Medicine look toward the visitor, he's already sheathing his sword, and watch as it turns into just a regular sword inside its sheath, then Luna sheathes her own swords while angrily saying "you sure have some problems mister! Be more careful next time, or I'll have that damned head of yours!"

Drake doesn't respond and simply makes his way to Keine, who disappointedly says "jeez what a nuisance."

She points at Drake and more calmly says "he was supposed to come here to learn about Gensokyo from me and Akyuu."

Kyo glares at the boy and replies "well make sure to teach him some mannerisms first. I'm lucky to be in one piece!"

Drake bows his head and says "I apologize again. It... was my mistake. Besides, you're safe thanks to that doll's poison."

He looks away to the sky to his left as he says to himself "stupid body is still susceptible to poisons. Curse the accursed weaknesses of this body!"

Keine sighs again, then says "well, whatever. Thank the gods everyone is safe and sound."

There is a loud buzzing sound next to Kyo's house, and now Yukari and Reimu stand next to where the vortex from before tried to suck Kyo.

Luna stares and with surprise in her voice she asks "miss Reimu, Yukari. Come for a visit? That's a bit odd, isn't it?"

Medicine, Kyo and Keine nod simultaneously, but before anyone says some odd or snappy remark, Reimu asks "what happened here?"

Yukari rapidly says "there was a disturbance in the force of the barrier not too long ago, and this is the source!"

Reimu quickly adds "just like at Ail's house."

Kyo scratches his head, thinks hard for a moment, Reimu chuckles and whispers to Yukari "this might hurt him.", then the muscled boy snaps his fingers and smiles.

He looks at Reimu, walks to her, then says "yes, before I met with... _**Drake**_, a weird swirly vortex tried to swallow me up, but it pushed me back."

He quickly punches Reimu on the head and speaks through his teeth "I heard that, you lazy shrine maiden!"

Reimu and Kyo push their foreheads against each other and glare while growling, then Yukari opens her fan, closes her eyes, then says "I see. Ail is not here anymore."

The boy and the maiden, though still pressing their foreheads against each other, manage to look over to Yukari and simultaneously asks "what about Ail?"

Yukari closes her fan, looks at all present with intense glowing purple eyes, then says "he's been taken to..."

* * *

Everything is dark, the ground feels hot, and Ail groans as he slowly regains his consciousness.

He can hear the faint voice of a girl as she says "and finally, he's waking up. Dude, hurry up, you've been asleep for five whole minutes! Is the ground really that comfy?"

Still dark as he sits on his knees, Ail asks "whoa. Yuki? What happened? Why is it so dark?"

He can hear a little more clearly now, and along with Yuki's voice, he can hear a soft whimper from another girl.

Yuki strikes his back, light blinds Ail, then the fire witch chuckles and says "when one closes the eyes, it's always dark, dummy."

After rubbing his eyes Ail blinks twice as he stares at the spot on the red grass he was lying on, then looks around himself and spots Yuki to his right, waving at him while smiling, and Cirno to his left with a paler-than-usual face, dull eyes, and trembling just slightly while breathing through her mouth.

Ail is about to make a rather observant, yet blunt comment, but when Cirno tries to speak and all she manages to do is a quick and out-of-breath whimper, he bites his lips, places a hand on the ice fairy's head, and holds her against himself as he would hold Budou during a storm.

He quickly looks up at Yuki and before he asks, she says "welcome to Mirror Makai."

Ail looks at their surroundings as he asks "Mi-Mirror Makai?"

He swiftly takes flight with Cirno on his hands and looks at the land from a bird's-eye view.

This world looks exactly like Gensokyo, except for the red-colored dirt roads, red grass, trees that ooze black sap without stop, and a purple sky.

Exactly where the Human Village would be in Gensokyo is a village of beautiful stone houses surrounded by rapids that circle said village, and from the looks of it, if anyone falls in there he or she would either die in a flash, or suffer a slow and painful death as the water and the sharp rocks shred the skin and tear the bones in succession.

Ail looks toward the east and sees a tall mountain with an exact replica of the Hakurei Shrine, though he and Cirno are sure that black aura around it is not part of the shrine at Gensokyo.

What should be the Misty Lake to the left of the shrine, is a lake with bubbling violet water, and in the very center is a derelict mansion painted dark yellow and blue.

Yuki flies to Ail's side and says "that's the water you'll be drinking if you want to survive."

Ail looks at Yuki with confusion, then the fire witch continues "like I said, this is a Mirror Makai. What's poisonous or harmful to ingest in our world is actually healthy for us in here. Fire freezes, ice burns, pretty is ugly..."

Ail looks around some more and notices that what should be the Youkai Mountain with the Moriya Shrine on top is actually a massive flat plateau with a large palace on top, and in front of that palace is a large pool of crystalline water, where the bones of some birds and other unidentifiable creatures float.

The rest of the land is covered by trees, flowers and bushes, all looking majestic, beautiful and deceiving.

Yuki continues "mom said this place was built only recently, and whomever built it was in a hurry to do so. This new lord made sure this place was as deceiving as possible to intruders, probably to have fun before killing them."

Cirno gasps for air, yet chokes when she does, grabs Ail by the shirt, grips him tight, and gives him a desperate look that tells him she's begging for help.

Sounding sad, Yuki says "in this place, so full of this unnatural nature; that's kinda ironic; a fairy like her will-"

Ail shouts "NO WAY! CIRNO!", cutting Yuki's sentence short.

He closes his eyes to concentrate and encases the ice fairy inside a blue crystal with pointed tips on the top and the bottom; very similar to the one he used to encase Budou before Reimu's incomplete Fantasy Heaven banished the bat from Gensokyo's Makai.

Yuki stares at Ail and the sealed fairy as she sleeps inside that crystal, and exclaims "whoa, nice trick! I would have never thought of that."

Ignoring the witch, Ail asks "Yuki, do you know how we can get out of here?"

The witch smiles and nods, then says "you see that fake Hakurei Shrine over there? Well, we need to reach that place, talk to the guy in charge, and hope he's in a good mood and sends us home."

Ail chuckles, though the chuckle is quite disturbing, even for Yuki, then he says "Yuki, the guy in charge is **DAMIEN**!"

Yuki looks completely unaffected by the revelation, places her hands behind her head, then asks "you mean that guy that's afraid of boobs? We are in trouble."

Ail sighs, then says "yeah... No kidding."

* * *

The dark Hakurei Shrine, looks exactly like Gensokyo's Hakurei Shrine, with a hot spring to the right side of the main shrine building, a donation box in front of it, a large red gate at the entrance of the shrine, the living house to the left and behind the main shrine, a training courtyard behind the living house, and a storage house.

Tthe differences are that the spring water looks sickly-yellow, the donation box is broken, the gates are about to break in half, the shrine's roof is so full of holes, it's like someone deliberately shot it with several weapons and left it like that for the heck of it.

The living house looks dirty and about ready to fall under the weight of its own roof, and the training courtyard looks like it's an execution ground, with massive pools of blood covering the floor and are splattered on the surrounding trees and the front of the storage house.

A creature with a lion's mane for hair, black eyes with red pupils, a flat goat's face, a bulky and muscular humanoid body that's covered in brownish-gold fur, has green dragon-like feet, and is wearing a pair of tattered black pants, rushes to the left-side entrance of the living house.

Inside of what should be the shrine's living house is completely different from the one in Gensokyo.

For starters, that left-side entrance is the main entrance to the building while the front door is a death-trap, and immediately upon entering, the creature is greeted by a dark and long, but narrow corridor lit by a few small light bulbs along the way of the purple stone walls.

It enters and runs as though its life depended on it, and after running for about five minutes it stops, kneels, and bows its head, and with a deep and growling voice he says "master, my apologies. The demon of light Ail entered through another gateway and escaped our grasp. He also came accompanied by two females. One of them matches the description of _the dreaded one_, the other is unknown. No signs of Kyo the betrayer either."

The room slowly lights up to reveal a set of black-brick stairs that reach a tall golden throne with blood-red cushions, and on that throne sits Damien, the revenge-fueled demon lord.

He has straight black hair that covers his left eye, his eyes are red, and wears a black shirt with glowing white skulls, black jeans, a long black robe with the hood lowered behind his head and metallic chimeras on the shoulders, black sneakers with blood-red laces, a spade on the center of his chest with grey stripes wiggling around it, and fingerless black gloves with red skulls that seem to be moving on their own.

He looks down at the creature, smiles, then sinisterly says "it's alright Akaizo. This just means I get to have fun before killing them. It's a pity we couldn't get Kyo. I guess I'll have to get him later."

Damien stands up in a flash, spreads his arms open, then says "minions! Prepare my gear! We're hunting some Ail... and _the dreaded one!_"

There are several gasps coming from all over the darkness of the room, then Damien opens his right hand and his black staff materializes on it, then he covers his face up with his hood as he starts to laugh with glee when the thought if killing Ail crosses his mind.

Akaizo bows to his lord, hiding his discontent face, then watches as his lord takes his cloak, wraps himself with it, turns into a black cloud, then rushes outside.

After a minute or so of Damien's departure, an odd creature with long, thin green legs and a yellow eyeball for a body walks over to Akaizo and asks "do we have to do this?"

The goat-faced creature sighs, rubs his eyes, then looks toward the exit and says "no choice. But maybe we can ask him if we lure him away."

The eyeball creature stares at the muscular creature and says "we are so owned dude."

Akaizo quietly nods twice.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ail, who is carrying the encased Cirno, and Yuki, make their way toward the village in hopes of finding someone that could help them.

Inside the crystal, Cirno sleeps soundly with her hands placed over her chest and her wings flapping softly, and although Ail keeps accommodating the crystal around his arms, she remains in place without moving an inch or being disturbed.

Yuki stares at the ice fairy, points at her, then asks "so... She's asleep, right?"

Ail nods and the fire witch asks "and no matter how much you shake it, she won't be disturbed, right?"

The dense boy nods agin, then Yuki smiles, grabs him and pulls him closer, then Ail blushes and asks "um, Yuki? What are you doing?"

She points to his left as they pass by one of the trees, which is spewing a lot of that odd black sap, then Yuki says "though this is a mirror Makai, some things still have deadly properties, like that black sap."

Ail stops for a moment and stares, then remembers how the trees used to have blood-red trunks and black leaves before, while Yuki says "you touch that black sap, even with the tip of your fingers, and you'll get so sick, you'll be lucky if you can go to the bathroom on your own."

She releases Ail and places her hands behind her head while looking up at the purple, yet somehow-sunny sky and adds "of course that's because you're half youkai. If you were just human, you'd probably die on the spot."

He looks at the fire witch with a bit of surprise in his eyes and says "you sure know a lot about this place."

Yuki smacks the back of Ail's head and angrily waves her finger at him while saying "hello~! Daughter of a powerful Makai goddess! Of COURSE I know about this!"

They stop in front of a rather large stone bridge with thick vines for rails and many small holes, then Ail rubs the back of his head while holding Cirno and staring at Yuki, then says "so you read your mom's books after all."

Yuki smiles and raises her hands with a cheer and exclaims "bingo! I thought they were books on magic, but ended up amused by them, so I read them anyway. They could have used some pictures though."

While listening to Yuki, Ail takes a look at the bridge in front of them and at the many houses build with white stones at the other side.

Though the bridge seems derelict, the houses look beautiful and clean, and some even have roofs made of gold, but he soon remembers what Yuki said about the land being a "Mirror Makai" and looks on with pity.

He looks to Yuki as soon as she's done speaking and says "well, we're here."

The fire witch nod and says "um, so yeah... we better go in there and see if there's someone friendly enough to talk to."

The dense one nods and says "if we're lucky, they will all be friendly to us."

The cocky Makaian witch smiles as she points to the sky and says "but we aren't lucky, so we better be ready."

Ail smiles as he nods, looks at Cirno inside the crystal, then glares toward the village as he says "let's go."

The crossing of the bridge is quite uneventful, as expected, though the boy and the girl reluctantly keep very close to each other to keep away from the rail vines that are oozing some of that black sap.

After crossing the surprisingly smooth bridge, Ail sighs and says "well, I guess the holes were just an illusion. Now, let's see if there's someone to talk to in this village."

From their left a woman shouts "IT'S AIL! GET HIM!"

From their right a man shouts "HE'S WITH THE DREADED ONE! BE CAREFUL!"

A small child with a peacock face, orange eyes, a humanoid body covered with blue feathers, and with orange bird legs, stands in front of Ail and Yuki, looks up at them, then starts to cry.

In an instant, a multitude of humanoid creatures, some with animal features, jump on the spot where the visitors just were and form a thick fight cloud, some shouting curses at Ail and Yuki while others shout capture commands.

The dense boy, the Makaian witch, and the encased fairy are above the whole mess, staring at their would-be capturers, then Yuki says "nice save."

Ail nods and says "yeah. Who knew I could open gaps in here too."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Gensokyo, at the Human Village, Keine takes Drake to the north-east side of the village, where most mansions are, and upon reaching the largest mansion present, they stop.

Said mansion is only five minutes away from Keine's school at the center of town, and it's surrounded by a very tall white wall with a small brown triangular roof on top.

The gate they are standing in front of is made of light-colored wood, and the bit of roof over the gate looks like it could belong to a castle.

Drake looks at this without paying much mind to it and sayss "so, miss Akyuu is a rich woman. Since miss Ibara said she was a 'chronicler', I was expecting a more... humble home."

Keine knocks on the gate and while waiting for a response she turns her head to glance at Drake and says "well, she has been around for a long time, and because of her incredible ability to remember everything, she's been allowed to be reborn for a while, catch up with Gensokyo's history, then she dies again and... Well, you get the general idea by now, I suppose."

Drake nods and continues staring toward the gate as though ignoring Keine, who naturally gets a bit annoyed by this but decides to just ignore the boy as well.

A small gap on the left side of the gate opens up and a man inside asks "Kamishirasawa-san, what business brings you to the Hieda house?"

Keine casually replies "I come here with the visitor to meet with miss Akyuu."

The man inside exclaims "ohh~ that's right!", then chuckles and playfully says "I almost forgot about that."

The small gap closes, then the left side of the gate opens toward the inside of the wall.

Keine signals Drake to follow her, and as they walk through, she says "now, miss Hieda may look like a child to us, but she's actually over twelve hundred years old, so be respectful.", and with a teacher tone, she adds "and NO ATTACKING!"

This makes Drake blush with embarrassment as he scratches his left cheek and softly says "that was... a misunderstanding."

After greeting the servant dressed in lilac and white, Keine guides Drake through the mansion.

Inside, the mansion's walls are painted white, it's roof dark brownish-red, the windows are adorned with charms or flowers, there are wind chimes in ten different spots around the whole mansion, dangling from the flaps of the elegant Japanese roof, and the air is filled with a sweet aroma the emanates from the kitchen, which has all the many mansion's cats keeping their full attention on the kitchen window.

The visitors walk by the outer corridors; or roka paths; and pass by the visitor's room, one large building with two small tables adorned with elegant golden lamps and surrounded by expensive-looking green cushions, and what look like books and games for guest to play with while waiting.

After that, they walk past the kitchen, where Drake sniffs the air and admits "man, whatever they are cooking is making me want to eat again."

Keine giggles and says "you might have to fight some cats for that if you try."

Drake looks around and notice the many cats around the trees, on the courtyard, and on the rails of the roka.

The boy looks curiously at the many cats that seem to stare back at him with the same curiosity, but he decides to ignore them and that sweet scent and follows after Keine to another building separated from the main mansion.

This next building is painted light brown, has a light brownish-red pagoda-like roof made out of long bamboo shoots, and only has two windows and a wooden dual-door.

Keine pushes the door open while saying "Akyuu, we're here."

From inside, a little girl replies "Keine, and mister Drake if I'm not mistaken. Welcome."

The boy looks inside and is immediately greeted by countless scrolls on shelves, books littered on the ground, and a ten-year old girl behind a desk; this surprises him to a gasp, even after Keine's warning.

The girl has short purple hair, purple eyes, and wears a pink ornamental flower on the left of her head, a green kimono-like best with yellow sleeves that have flowers designed on them, a shortened hakama skirt that's tied with a red lace with white frills, and pink socks.

Akyuu Hieda, the young-looking, old-aged-in-spirit chronicler, looks at Drake, giggles, then says "seems he wasn't expecting someone so young."

Keine pouts angrily at Drake while placing her hands on her hips and says "Drake! What did I tell you? Show more respect!"

Drake closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then says "this... is going to be a very-very long stay."

* * *

It's midday at the Moriya Shrine when Sanae walks out of the small storage shed near the donation box with mighty broom on hand and ready to tackle the evils of dirtiness that threaten to overtake the path toward said donation box.

She knows her battle is futile, seeing as no actual humans could visit the shrine, but if she doesn't do this, she'll fall victim of boredom, and she and Kanako know damned well what happened last time that happened.

Sanae looks up to the sky and thinks "_so many paintballs. Suwako-sama was so mad._"

She takes exactly twenty steps forward, places the bristled-end of her mighty broom on the ground, and a brown with teal blur tackles her on the chest while exclaiming "MAMA SAVES PAPA!"

Sanae lies on her seat with Budou on her stomach, and while the world spins around the maiden, she asks "Budou, what's wrong? Why are we moving so much?"

From behind them, Ayalina asks "shouldn't you be asking about Ail instead?"

Sanae miraculously recovers when she hears the flower youkai's voice and after turning her head, she asks "Ayalina? You are here too? Where's Ail? What's going on?"

Budou holds Sanae by the collar of her shirt and pulls furiously while grunting "no more talking! You have to save papa from the swirly hole!"

The little bat youkai pulls upward so hard that by the time Sanae gets up on her feet, her shirt is pulled off to reveal a light-rose strapless tank top underneath, which shows of her well endowed womanly figure only **too** well.

Before any comments are said or Sanae is able to cover herself, Aya and Hatate fly by at ridiculous speeds and clicking their cameras several times before flying away again.

Sanae screeches and covers herself up with her arms while Ayalina explores and studies the girl and says "well, I can see my son has really good tastes."

The over-protective mother smacks an approval sticker on Sanae's forehead and says "you may continue dating with my son."

Blushing, Sanae jumps and takes her shirt back from Budou, places it on with haste, then angrily shouts "what in Kanako's sake is going on? Where's Ail? What happened to him now?"

Budou lands in front of Sanae, wraps her hands and wings around Sanae's waist, then sobs and cries "papa got swallowed up by this purply-violety swirling vortex thingy with the crazy fire girl in black and smart sis Cirno~!"

Sanae mouths back "purply and swirly", then gasps and commands "Budou, go get Phredia! We're going to the Hakurei Shrine first to see what miss nosy maiden has found out, then we'll go get Ail back!"

Budou looks up at Sanae with red puffy cheeks and glassy eyes with tears dangling under them, nods once, then flies toward the lake behind the shrine.

Sanae rushes toward the small storage shed to return the powerful broom to its place while Ayalina chases after her and asks "so what are you planning? What do you know about all of this?"

While Sanae puts the broom back and closes the shed, she says "It's just a feeling, and I hope I'm wrong, but that sounds like the sort of magic Ail warned me about not too long ago. Magic Damien has mastered."

Meanwhile, at the center of the Moriya Shrine's lake, Budou lands on one of the many tall sacred logs and although still upset and crying, she sweetly calls "Phredia, I need your help!"

Something small and shiny plops out of the water directly below the log Budou is on and floats up to the bat youkai.

Phredia, the mysterious and small, yet powerful fairy, stares at Budou and encases herself and the bat in a bright yellow force field.

The tiny fairy has long blonde hair, blue eyes, and wears a small dark-blue dress with an apron, has a red ribbon on the back of her head, and a pair of silky white gloves.

She smiles when she looks at Budou and with a soothing voice, she telepathically asks "_what is it sweet child? You look so upset._"

Unknowingly using her mind, Budou replies "_papa's in trouble and mama Sanny thinks we need your help._"

Phredia closes her eyes for a second, opens them with a sense of urgency behind them, then says "_so, lady Cirno with him. She's with Ail at that place you and I met. They are in grave danger!_"

Budou gasps when she hears the word 'danger' and desperately asks "what should we do?"

Phredia smiles again, flies closer to Budou, pokes her forehead, then says "_you came to me just in time. Let's go with your mother to the Hakurei Shrine. There's a person there that can shed some light on our path._"

In an instant, Phredia flies to Budou's chest and enters the little youkai's heart, and once she's inside, Budou furiously flaps her wings and takes off to the front of the shrine, where Sanae and Ayalina are hovering while they wait for her.

Sitting on top of the water while behind another log, Suwako looks away from the girls and says to herself "and shit falls on his lap one more time. I can't help but wonder what path he'll take this time."

She sighs and lowers her hat as she allows herself to sink underwater and says "hope he keeps to himself this time, or things are gonna get ugly as hell."

* * *

Back at Damien's Makai, where it is still morning, Ail, who is still carrying Cirno, and Yuki fly with haste away from a horde of flying... somethings.

Winged creatures of varying shapes and sizes chase after the visitors in the air, while several other creatures chase after them on land.

Ail and Yuki fly as fast as they can toward the dark shrine to the east, when Yuki casually shouts "so, how come you knew about Damien? It took mom a week to figure out his name."

Ail shouts back "I don't think this is the time for idle shouted conversation!"

Yuki shrugs and casually shouts "oh, come on! Aren't we always being chased?"

Ail gives up the argument quite quickly and says "I was the one that sent him here in the first place. You know, that guy you scared the hell out of when he saw you."

Yuki thinks for a moment, but her train of thought gets interrupted by a quick-moving swirl of clouds with Damien's face that rushes toward them while cackling.

Damien's voice echoes all over the area as he passes between the visitors while in cloud form and yells "Ail and the dreaded one! Welcome to your funeral!"

For some odd reason, he misses this golden opportunity to attack to dive down and hide under the trees.

Ail looks at Yuki to ask her if she's as confused as he is, and that's when he realizes she's untied the white string around her collar and has the top of her shirt widely open, showing off the bit of cleavage she possesses.

She fans her bare skin with her hand and with a content smile she exclaims "ahh, fresh air! These girls can be so demanding sometimes."

She notices how Ail is staring at her face with an expression that says "convenient-yet-unexpected", and she blushes as she smiles bashfully and looks away, then says "aww c'mon, I'm not that hot, aren't I?"

Ail just smiles and says "Yuki, you really are one crazy genius! Now come on, we need to get away from here!"

Yuki nods, she and Ail turn away from the dark shrine, then she asks "so, was that the guy that got freaked by my boobs before?"

Ail instinctively face palms, groans, then says to himself "I take it back, you're just crazy.", then looks at her and shouts "yes, that was him! NOW MOVE!"

The fire witch guffaws and waves her arm at Ail as she confidently says "give me a break. Those slowpokes-" but she cuts her own sentence short when she looks back and realizes the winged pursuers are a mere three inches away from reaching them.

She yelps, files above Ail, wraps her arms around his ribcage, and before he asks, she shouts "FULL SPEED AHEAD, GO!"

Her feet expulse fire as though they were propellers, and she and Ail are now screaming through the purple skies as they fly uncontrollably toward the purple goopy lake.

Their pursuers can only watch with awe as their targets fly away, looking like one giant crazed mosquito zigzagging through the air, and slowly but surely they all stop.

From below the trees, Damien's voice cracks a bit when he shouts "d-_don't_ just stand there gawking like _retards_! _AFTER THEM_!"

A raspy and squeaky voice inside the fliers' group exclaims "but sir! They went to the lake!"

Damien reveals himself from below a tree and exclaims "WHAT?" while punching the top of the tree right off its trunk.

A deep and bulky voice from the grounded group asks "what should we do, master Damien?"

The dark lord pulls off his hood and looks around through squinted eyes, and through clenched teeth, he says to himself "that bitch is in there. The only place I can't reach."

He stops his grumbling and mumbling, then smiles disturbingly ominous and says "let's wait for them to come out."

The monstrous villagers stare at their lord with confusion as he continues "they can't get out of there unless I allow them to, and they can't stay in there forever. They will want to go back home, so the moment they get away from the lake, we'll ambush them! It's PERFECT!"

From the flier's group, a deep voice says "teh, so clichéd."

Damien roars "I HEARD THAT!", and in an instant, all villagers present disappear from sight, leaving behind a couple of smoke clouds that dissipate quickly.

* * *

Back at Gensokyo, it's almost noon, and at the Hakurei Shrine's training yard, Reimu has Tenshi pinned face-down on the ground and is pulling the celestial's legs backward as far as she can while sitting on said celestial's back.

Yukari is watching with great amusement from the shrine's porch next to Rika with Suzaku on her shoulder, whom stare at the shrine maiden and celestial with disappointment.

Marisa is inside the shrine, looking for spells she could use for herself in Reimu's things, and Kyo, Luna and Medicine stand to the left of the brawling girls and just watch with as much amusement as Yukari.

Reimu pulls Tenshi's legs so much, the joints start cracking, and while the celestial groans, Reimu shouts "NOW SAY IT!"

With tears in her eyes Tenshi manages to scream "I'M SORRY! I wasn't being forced by Reimu at all! We planned this together because we were worried! BOTH OF US!"

With a satisfied smile on her face, the violent shrine maiden releases the celestial, dusts her hands and says "and that's how you get the truth out of a supposedly-holy being."

While everybody else claps, Rika just looks away with blushing cheeks, and noticing this, Reimu says "aww c'mon Rika, forgive us already."

From the back of the shrine a woman says "if you would stop behaving like children she wouldn't be this upset."

Rika quickly turns her head toward the source of the voice and exclaims "mom!"

Shinki, the goddess of Gensokyo's Makai, reveals herself from behind the storage house with a smile on her face and her arms raised, welcoming Rika to her.

She has long light-blue hair tied with red bobbles into a ponytail on the top right side, light-blue eyes, and wears a pink turtleneck shirt underneath a long red robe, and a pair of calf-high brown boots.

Before even Reimu notices, Rika is running toward Shinki and jumps between her arms to give the goddess/devil a hug while saying "mom, what a pleasant surprise!"

Shinki returns the hug in a sweet and motherly manner, and while she combs the back of Rika's hair, she says "I am glad Ail came by to warn- I mean, tell me about you. Really Reimu and Tenshi, you two should be ashamed."

From their left, Kyo smiles mischievously as he whispers in song "you're getting scolded~"

The scolded girls send such a powerful corner-of-the-eyes glare at the boy, the shockwave that follows after is felt even by Marisa and Suzaku, whom are currently fighting over a scroll inside the shrine, though they drop it to hurdle in fear after feeling that energy.

Kyo, however, is not that smart and continues pointing at the girls.

Shinki stomps the ground with her right foot and says "young man, don't make me use the paddle on you! Now, Ail didn't have the details of what exactly happened, so can anyone enlighten me to the events that took place over here."

Kyo stares defiantly back at Shinki and says "whoa there, hold on a minute! we still need to discuss what are we going to do about that Drake and his explosive behavior! And what about Ail and the others at that other Makai? We can't leave them there for Damien to torture!"

Shinki is now patting Suzaku's head and says "thanks for the update", and with Rika to her side she looks toward the shrine and says "don't know about no Drake, but I do know that Ail and the others are safe."

From the porch, Yukari shouts "CRAP! I forgot to seal Drake's spells into spell cards!"

Reimu shouts "CRAP! I forgot to ask him to give me that sword!"

Kyo points at the girls and shouts "CRAP! That's exactly what's inside you damned heads!"

While a shower of charms and lasers explode on the boy, Luna and Medicine marvel and awe at the sight, then Luna says "he had that one coming."

Medicine and Su-San nod simultaneously without taking their eyes off Kyo.

All eyes quickly turn to the sky when Sanae shouts "Reimuuu! Ail's in trouble again!"

The red-and-white one face-palms hard, sighs, then says to herself "she's late to the party yet again."

* * *

Back at the Mirror Makai, where it is almost midday by now, Ail and Yuki sit by the outer shores of the purple lake with the encased ice fairy next to them on the ground.

While Cirno sleeps in peace, Ail asks "so are you certain they can't get to us here?"

Yuki nods and says "this places has an alternate source of energy, so as strong as that Damien guy is, he can't get to us here."

He relaxes and closes his eyes while he sighs, then looks at the purple water and asks "and are you sure we can really drink this stuff?"

Yuki stares at Ail, lifts her right arm and aims her hand at the water, then shoots a massive fireball that makes a very loud bang, surprising the dense one, but he exclaims even more surprise when the fireball fizzles on the gooey water and reveals a spot of clean fresh water for a second.

He looks to the fire witch, smiles and nods, then says "great. Now I can have a drink, and maybe even take a bath."

Yuki smiles and asks "can I join you?"

Ail cannot find the proper words for a reply, so he just stares at the witch in disbelief, turns to the lake, and places his hand in the water.

The moment he touches the water a woman giggles and Ail quickly crawls backward away from the water and nervously exclaims "holy crap, it's ticklish! And it's a girl too!"

Now it's Yuki who stares in disbelief, sighs, points upward toward the lake, then says "it's not the water you idiot. It's that hot, chunky woman in rags."

Ail is now hiding behind Cirno's crystal looking like a frightened pup, but when he looks to where the crazy witch is pointing at, he calms down and sighs.

Walking on the water is a pale-skinned woman with long, unkempt dark-blue hair, dark blue eyes, and is wearing a set of white rags with long sleeves.

There is a long slit to the left side of the rags revealing the woman's thigh and small jelly rolls around her hip.

Yuki wants nothing more than to point out the extra sight they are enjoying, but she and Ail notice the lion-mane, goat-faced muscular creature standing next to the water to the woman's right.

Both dense boy and crazy witch cower behind the crystallized ice fairy, and even though he's scared, Ail manages to demand "if you get closer, we're going to shave you!"

Yuki quickly adds "th-th-that's right! I got a razor!"

The woman giggles, gets closer to the creature, then both giggle simultaneously as they hold each other's hands and rub their noses together.

The two visitors raise an eyebrow each, then the woman says "I'm sorry, I haven't seen my husband all day and... well it's a bit late, but welcome to our home mister Anilan Inmodo Leuch, and miss Yuki from the neighboring Makai."

The muscular creature looks at Cirno, then says "that was smart of you. A fairy from outside could never survive long in this world."

Ail and Yuki are left in shock for a moment, and after a few seconds of silence Ail asks "so... um, thanks for the warm welcome and all that, but how come you two know who we are?"

Yuki points at the woman with her right hand, prepares a fireball on her left hand, and shouts "she's a witch!"

Ail grabs her left arm as he sighs and says "you are a witch too, remember?"

The woman and the goat-faced creature turn their smiles into stern faces, then the woman says "I'm sorry, but now is not the time for this bickering. We need your help."

The creatures takes a step forth and says "first off, my name is Akaizo. Forgive our rudeness, but for our own selfish reason I cannot reveal my wife's name."

The visitors both nod and Akaizo continues "we want to thank you Ail. Because of you, we were freed from a very tyrannous lord, and for once we have all experienced real freedom under lord Damien's rule."

The woman wraps her arm around her husband's shoulders and continues "but there is this tiny thing we need some help with", and then she points with her hand toward the derelict mansion.

Before the visitors ask, the woman says "lord Damien, as kind as he is, is a bit of a joker, and though it would be funny if appearances were mirrored differently to what they really are."

Akaizo agitatedly adds "you think my wife love running around in clothes that look like rags? Look, it's even showing some of that beautiful skin there."

The woman smiles nervously and signals her husband to stop talking, then says "the point is, mister Anilan and miss Yuki, please challenge lord Damien to a fight and demand he removes this mirroring spell."

The two visitors have their mouths wide open, their eyes look like white round disks, and without moving his mouth at all, Ail asks "you wants uz to whatzat now?"

* * *

After having calmed down and eaten some lunch; a rather disgusting looking purple eel meal; Ail and Yuki kneel on the floor front of Akaizo and his wife, with Cirno set between the visitors with a very content look on her sleeping face.

The woman bows her head and says "you understand now that you two are the only ones that can convince our lord to cut the crap and set things right, I am sure."

Akaizo looks a bit ashamed about his wife choice of words, but calmly says "er, right. The thing is, our mansion should look beautiful and majestic, both inside and out, and my wife's attire should be that of a noble woman."

Yuki smiles, then says "ah, I see. So the illusion is also making her look pudgy and pillow-headed."

Both Akaizo and his wife blush beet red, stammer for a moment, then the woman says "th-this is my natural hairstyle. I've won several beauty contest thanks to it."

Looking to the ground to hide his embarrassed eyes, Akaizo sternly says "seriously you two, it's not just the physical appearance that matters."

With a naughty and playful tone of voice, the woman says "well, it did help to ensnare you, my lovely hairy beast."

Akaizo looks toward the woman as he whispers "well, you are the most beautiful woman in this universe."

They both start rubbing their noses and again are giving each other small kisses, and this makes Yuki's stomach churn with disgust, though she hides this well.

In Ail's case, he can't help but think of Sanae while looking at this sight.

The dense one stands up, explores his powers by shooting a laser from his hand to the air, opening several gaps around himself and closing them quickly, and finally summoning his weapon of light, and after making sure all is working he bravely says "don't you worry. I will challenge Damien and beat some sense into his brain."

Both the creature and his wife sigh with great relief and bow to Ail, then the blue-haired woman says "mister Anilan... I mean Ail, we are forever in your debt."

Ail scratches the side of his face with an embarrassed smile and says "yeah, umm, you don't really need to bow."

Ignoring him, Akaizo lifts up along with his wife and says "but please, do not kill him. He may be a bit strange, even to us, but he's been the best lord this world has had in several millenniums."

Ail nods in assent, while Yuki picks her nose and says "well, whatever. Don't count me in this mess of yours. It's not really my problem."

Ail smiles very friendly-like at the fire witch, bends closer to her, then says "well, after I beat him, you can stay here for the rest of your life, seeing as you're not really part of it and it's going to be me alone challenging him and all that."

Yuki springs up with her fists clenched, bravely saying "what are we waiting for? Let's go and kick some weirdo butt!"

Ail picks Cirno off the ground and wraps his left arm around the crystal, then says "this is gonna be though. I'm going to have some trouble with Cirno in this state, but there's no other way."

The blue-haired woman bows her head in apology and says "I'm sorry we can't assist you, but even if I can use my powers to protect ourselves from him, I am still loyal to lord Damien, and we would have to hand your friend over to him if you leave her with us."

Ail nods and replies "I understand", then Yuki smacks his back hard and loudly says "don't sound so stern and manly now!"

The boy loses his grip on Cirno, the crystal rolls down the road and passes through the barrier protecting the area.

Furious and worried, Ail shouts "nice one Yuki! Hurry, before someone gets-" but it's too late.

When the visitors look down the road they see Damien smiling viciously at them, while this odd creature with a bare skull for a head and a body made of black tentacles holds Cirno's crystal in the air above its bony head.

Damien stands all cool and menacing with his hood covering half of his face and his robe blowing against the wind as he stares straight at Ail and points at him.

After a quick chuckle, the lord of Makai says "Ail, and you dreaded Yuki girl, I ACCEPT your challenge!"

He points at Akaizo and his wife and adds "and as for you two, once I beat their asses six feet under, I'm going to have to punish you!"

The beastly creature stands in front of his wife while she peeks her left eye from behind her husband's shoulder, but neither says a word.

Ail takes Damien's attention when he gets closer to the dark lord and furiously demands "**you give Cirno back! You give her back this instant!**"

Damien smiles as he mockingly says "aww, you worried for the wittle fairy."

As he says this, the cloaked boy flicks his finger against Cirno's crystal making it buzz and threatening to break it, making Ail lose his control and rush toward them, only to get smacked on the face with the femur of a half-skeleton half-humanoid rhino.

While Ail bounces back toward Yuki, knocking her down with his own back, Damien cackles and says "meet me at the ruins, over at the Demonic Plateau. If you and your friends survive, I'll dispel the mirror effect, and you can all go home. If you die... well, I'll use your heads as a throne ornaments."

After saying all of this, Damien becomes a black cloud that speeds away toward the nearby plateau with his followers riding some black clouds after him.

As Ail and Yuki get back up, the blue-haired woman asks "what are you going to do now?"

Without saying a word, Ail grabs Yuki by the arm and takes off to the sky, chasing after Damien with haste and ignoring the complaining fire witch that keeps demanding to be released.

* * *

It's late noon at Gensokyo, and in the Hakurei Shrine, girls are agreeing on goals.

Reimu, Tenshi, Luna, Shinki, Marisa, Sanae and Yukari are sitting around the oval table, Suzaku stands on its center, Kyo and his tattered clothes are being kept near the kitchen, where Rika and Ayalina are cleaning dirty countertops, and Medicine is outside, staring at a red flower.

Budou is pacing around behind Sanae, while Phredia flies around the little youkai's head, staring curiously at the bat's head.

Reimu places her hands on the table and says "alright, it's finally decided. Jeez, that took and unnecessarily long time."

Sanae glares at Reimu and snaps "well with so much bickering, what the hell did you expect?"

Surprisingly enough, it's Tenshi who angrily says "alright, alright, stop! No more arguing!"

Even Suzaku is staring at the celestial with surprise, then Shinki says "alright then. I'll see what I can do for Yuki and the others. Maybe I can contact someone friendly in there."

Sanae adds "i-if you need help don't hesitate to call!"

From behind Sanae, Budou stops pacing and sadly says "just make sure papa comes back home as fast as you can, please!"

From the kitchen, Ayalina giggles and says "that boy of mine. Heh-heh, to think he has so many girls worried about him! Ahh, what a man he's become."

A bead of sweat rolls around the side of Rika's head as she nervously asks "um, th-is that any way for a mother to speak of her son? Like he's some kind of player?"

Ayalina presses her cheeks against Rika's and asks "you! What's your relationship with my boy?"

Before Rika can stammer her answer, Mima phases through the roof and floats above the girls, and says "oi, he's like her brother, now stop picking on her."

From the table, Reimu angrily says "no more BICKERING! Kyo, you, Medicine and Luna will deliver Keine my message, and come morning you will bring Drake here! Tenshi, miss thieving witch, you two are helping me prepare the sealing spell for tomorrow!"

From outside the shrine, Suika calls "Tenshiiii! There's trouble at heaven!"

Reimu face palms hard while the rest of the girls look toward the open left-side exit at Suika.

The little drunk oni stands right next to the sliding doors, and with a stern look shot at Tenshi, she says "you better hurry up before they find you here again."

Tenshi sighs as she stands up, walks over to Suika, then resentfully asks "what's going on now?"

Suika looks up at the celestial, smiles, then says "um, something about the gardens at heaven, and a girl-shark that's eating all the peaches. Um, something like that."

Tenshi face palms hard, looks at Reimu, then says "sorry, but it looks like I won't be able to help at all. See you later!"

Though the red-and-white shrine maiden stares angrily at the celestial, inside she feels elated, and in her mind she's squealing with joy while jumping through a peaceful meadow filled with flowers and tea mugs now that she and Rika can be alone again.

Sounding very disappointed, Reimu says "well, you gotta do what you gotta do. Mima'll help me prepare for Drake."

Tenshi nods, while from the kitchen the evil spirit happily says "oh goodie!"

The celestial summons a large keystone from the sky, it lands in front of the porch, and when Tenshi sits on it, she takes off toward heaven and shouts "see you later Rika~!"

The shrine maid would like to shout back, but with Ayalina still staring at her, her nerve fails.

From the table, Reimu asks "Rika, is it alright if I use Suzaku as a messenger?"

The shrine maid nods and says "of course lady Reimu."

The shrine maiden rushes to her cabinet and rummages around for a black pen she took from Kourindou and a piece of paper, and when she returns to the table, she looks at Shinki and says "alright, I'll leave Ail's safety on your capable hands.", then turns her head to Luna and says "Kyo, Luna, change of plans. You can go home and do whatever it is you do there."

She scribbles furiously into the piece of paper while everyone stares with confusion, and once she's done she folds the paper and gives it to Suzaku and says "take this to Keine at the village. She's probably at Akyuu's mansion."

Suzaku takes flight just as Budou cries "but what about PAPAAA~?"

Yukari grabs the bat youkai and she immediately calms down in the sage's arms, though it's mostly because of a feeling of uncertainty.

The youkai sage combs Budou's hair and calmly says "the man that took your _papa_ is no match for him, so Ail will be just fine."

The bat youkai falls asleep on Yukari's arms, and while the youkai sage hands the bat over to Sanae, from the kitchen entrance, Kyo angrily asks "and how the hell do you even know that, you hag? You can't even tell why that vortex didn't take me!"

Yukari turn her eyes to Kyo, the boy quickly settles down, and in a sweet, yet fearful tone, she says "your life is bound to Gensokyo now, so no matter how much you want it, you cannot cross the border anymore. Now..."

Yukari stands up, opens a gap and jumps inside, then says "I'm going back home. I'm feeling a little tired."

Reimu jumps on her feet and exclaims "wait! You can't leave yet! I need your help to seal that sword!"

The youkai sage opens her fan and covers half her face while staring straight back at Reimu, then disappears into her gap and her voice echoes all over the shrine as she says "I'm sorry, but SOMEONE kept me up since very early in the morning and I didn't get my sleep. You're going to have to deal with that on your own~."

Reimu clenches her teeth and grumbles to herself, then Marisa, after keeping quiet the whole time, looks up at Reimu and says "you know, that Sukima got some real style, don't cha' think?"

Without prior warning, Reimu backslaps the back of Marisa's head, then rushes into her room, leaving everyone in the room staring at each other with confusion.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Patchouli replaces the maid headdress for her regular hat, dusts her usual robes, which she's currently wearing, then sighs and says to herself "finally. I though the mistresses would never forgive me. Really, if I had to be their maid any longer, I'd have-"

From behind, Remilia asks "have what, Patchouli Knowledge?"

The shock the librarian gets is enough to make her scream, but her body is so exhausted, she collapses instead.

Remilia shrieks and shouts "no! Patchy! Patchy, I'm sorry! Don't die!"

Patchouli recovers quickly and gets up with the help of her bed, and after squeezing her chest and breathing some air though her mouth, she softly says "I'm not... dying yet Remi. Uh, but I think I need some-some rest."

The young vampire flies and slides the lilac bed-sheets open, lifts Patchouli by the back of her collar, tosses her on the bed, covers her up with the sheets, and after landing she walks to the door and says "I'm getting Leon to tend to your every whim while you recover."

Patchouli moans and softly complains "please, not that imp!"

Remilia smirks, turns her head to the magician, then says "you really like him, don't you? You and Koakuma like those kids, but refuse to admit it."

The librarian, though weak, stares daggers at Remilia and shouts "I want those damned freaks out of my LIBRARY!"

Remilia's smirk turns even more irritating when the vampire looks at the librarian through the corner of her eyes and remains silent.

Patchouli starts to cough when her anger rises, and after being forced to calm down due to her own weak body, she stops her coughing fit, crosses her arms across her chest, and pouts as she looks to the left of the room, away from the bratty vampire.

Remilia stands to the right of the bed, places her claw on Patchouli's chin, making the magician a bit nervous, then pulls her friend's face toward her own.

When they meet eye-to-eye Remilia asks "if that's true, then why didn't you blast them when they first came by?"

Patchouli quickly replies "you wouldn't let me!"

Remilia smiles as she rolls her eyes, then says "hmm~, true. But you liked it when he was rubbing your legs under that desk, evident when you only kicked him away. Seriously, if it was me, I would have blasted him with fire and be done with it."

The magician chokes and blushes, then Remilia continues "then there was the thing with the bikini. As amusing as it was, you didn't even try to change, you make up some weird excuse to go to the roof, _consciously_ allowed Leon to massage you _anywhere _I allowed him to reach, and when the chance to retaliate came, you aimed that fire spell at me and Flan, not at him."

Patchouli opens her mouth to defend herself, but Remilia beats her to it and says "don't try it Patche! I know damned well you were aware of him touching you all over. And as for that fire spell..."

The vampire rummages through the pockets of her dress, pulls out a small rectangular envelope with Patchouli's name on it, throws it at the magician, then exits the room while saying "if you threaten me or Flandre again I'm going to give those to the tengu! ...I'll get Leon to bring you some tea and sweets. He'll take care of you for tonight."

Remilia closes the door, ignoring Patchouli's pleas, and now said magician librarian is left on her own inside her small room.

Her bed sits in the very center of the room, there's a very small vanity to the left of that, and a small bookshelf to the right, filled to capacity with books on astrology and ancient spells.

Enjoying the silence of the solitude, Patchouli sighs and opens the envelope. Inside are the photos of her and Koakuma being massaged by Leon and Lina, and by the looks of things, Koakuma was lost in a state of bliss, and was genuinely unaware of Lina's presence.

Patchouli, on the other hand, looked quite aware of Leon, and can be seen looking at him through the corners of her eyes through her sunglasses.

The librarian blushes as a mixture of feeling race through her entire being, then she growls and clenches her teeth when she spots a picture of Leon trying to reach for her left breast, but he's looking back with disappointment toward Remilia.

She quickly remembers said vampire scolding the boy when she was looking away, and this seems to infuriate her to the point that before she realizes it, she has burned all the pictures to ashes with a quick burst of flames from her hands.

The door to her room opens and the infuriating voice of the ling-blue haired boy increases Patchouli's rage as he says "Patchouli my love, I've brought you some cake and tea-"

A large fireball flies to Leon's chest, where it strikes the platter where the food was, and Leon is sent falling backward to the ground.

After the teacup and cake smash against the ground, Leon sits up and says "ah, my love is so strong. She's already trying to kill me."

Patchouli furiously shouts "GET OOOOUUUUT! Get. out. of. my. ROOM!"

Leon gets up on his feet and starts to pick up the mess made and calmly says "I'm sorry Patchouli, but I cannot do that. Lady Remilia specifically ordered me to care for you, so there's no way around it."

He scratches his head and messes up his hair as he casually says "well you could try to kill me again, but I would advise against that."

The raging girl summons back one mighty blue fireball she was holding between her hands and asks "oh? And why would you advise against it?"

Having picked up the mess made and holding the platter with the broken teacup and smashed cake with both hands, Leon smiles at Patchouli and says "lady Remilia said she'd stick a Gungnir up your... Well, it's not nice. Not very lady-like either."

The girl winds down and lets herself fall on her pillows, then Leon says "I'll get you some more tea and cake, my love. And don't worry, I will take good care of you."

The door clicks shut, Patchouli sighs as she sinks her head even deeper into her pillows, then says to herself "I will have my revenge, Remilia Scarlet."

* * *

At heaven, Tenshi arrives to the peach gardens and finds some angels scattering about, including Spee, the calm and fierce friend, and Suwako Moriya's shadow-turned angel.

She looks exactly like Suwako in appearance, with blonde hair and grey eyes, but wears a white straw hat with eyes, a long white robe she ties with a golden rope around her waist, has a pair of angel wings half her own size, and a halo above her hat.

Beside this angel is Girlie, the extremely innocent shadow-turned angel that looks like a child version of Shinki, save for her raven-black hair and red eyes.

Like Shinki, she uses a pair of red bobbles to tie the top-right part of her hair into a ponytail, but unlike Shinki, she wears a white robe twice her own size, claiming she'll grow into them, a golden rope tied around her waist, the halo above her head glows brighter than Spee's, and she has angel wings half her own size.

Spee notices Tenshi and shouts "eldest daughter, at last!"

Girlie gasps and exclaims "goodie! Now you can help us take down the mean lady-shark!"

The blue-haired celestial looks around with confusion and mouths "mean lady-shark? What?"

Behind her, a familiar voice says "finally, miss eldest daughter. We need the Sword of Hisou for this."

Tenshi turns around to meet Iku Nagae, the funky thunder oarfish youkai. She has short violet-blue hair that reaches just above her shoulders, red eyes, and wears a round black hat with long red ribbons that look like antennas, a long-sleeved pink shirt with red frills, a long black skirt, pink socks, white shoes, and has a long pink sash with red frills surrounding her shoulders and chest.

Tenshi scowls at Iku and demands "could you please tell me what in heaven-in-hell is happening here?"

Iku gulps, points toward the peach trees, and when the celestial turns around, she gasps in shock at the sight.

Toyohime jumps off the ground and catches a large peach with her jagged-toothed smiling mouth with one loud CRUNCH, then smacks her lips after landing and exclaims "so juicy, so delicious, and still not getting fat!"

Tenshi Hinanai, the blue haired corrupted and spoiled celestial, who caused one heck of an incident and challenged several powerful girls at once, gasps with horror at the sight, grabs a large chunk of hair from each side and screams "**PEACH SHAAAAAAAARK!**"

Her scream of terror echoes all over the garden, and all the angels, save for Girlie and Spee, scramble and fly away with terrified faces.

Iku angrily punches the back of Tenshi's head and furiously grumbles "you're supposed to help, idiot!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at night, at the Hakurei Shrine, Sanae and Budou sit beside the dead-drunk Suika at the back-porch, and watch as Reimu, Marisa, Mima and Phredia turn the shrine's training ground into one large magical circle.

Rika's training dummies have been temporarily removed, and in their place, eight sacred torch stands have been placed in specific locations around the circle.

Marisa and Mima are using magical paint from their staffs to draw the necessary runes on the dirt, while Reimu utilizes her charms to write a single symbol in the very center of the circle, and Phredia is using her magic to turn all those charms into one large red rune.

The maiden is sweating and panting as though she's running a marathon, yet she continues, and out of concern, her long-time friend Marisa says "Reimu, you look terrible, ze. Go ahead and take a break. We will take some time to finish here anyway."

Reimu struggles to straighten herself up, stretches her back and groans, then smiles weakly toward Marisa and waves as she says "alright, thanks. I'll be... I'll be at the hot springs."

In just five minutes, Reimu has reached the springs, stripped off her clothes and ribbons, and is sitting inside the farthest parts of the hot springs, and after a long sigh she places her hand on her chest and breathes through her mouth.

As she does, a boy's silhouette appears in front of her eyes and she feels as though her heart has stopped beating for a second.

She gasps for air and almost loses consciousness, but manages to keep awake long enough to notice a woman walking on the water toward her and smack her back, curing her of whatever ailment was affecting her.

The shrine maiden looks up, and there, standing on top of the water and looking back with a stern face is Michiko, the party-loving old lady from the village, supposedly.

She has light-brown, almost white hair she ties into a bun and holds it with a golden pin with a charm on its tip, her narrow eyes, though hard to see through those golden-framed oval glasses, are golden brown, and she wears a golden kimono with white flowers designs on the bottom that spread through vines all the way up to her chest, and a brown ribbon with a red center around her waist.

Before Reimu can speak, Michiko sternly says "you have to endure shrine maiden, but it's just for a little while longer! Don't fall into despair."

Reimu blinks twice and the woman is gone.

She looks around the springs and sees nobody else, and just as she asks herself "what happened?", the old lady appears sitting next to her, naked and with a sad expression in her eyes.

The shrine maiden yelps and jumps away, then asks "you crazy old hag, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

The woman places her hand on Reimu's shoulder and says "whatever happens, do not lose your purity. Do not lose to temptation, Hakurei. The moment you do is the moment we all lose. Just hold on for a little bit and it will all be rewarded."

After her speech, Michiko turns to mist and blows away with the wind, leaving Reimu alone with her thoughts and freaked out beyond her regular freak-outs.

The woman's voice echoes all over the hot springs as she cackles, Reimu completely loses what little cool she had left, and jumps right out of the water and runs to the back of the shrine, screaming, crying, and calling for help in her birthday suit and nothing more.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Akyuu's mansion, Drake is reading diligently through scrolls while Keine says to him "didn't you hear me? You have to report to Kyo's house in the morning, and you must go with him to the shrine."

Drake keeps his face on the scrolls as he nods and says "uh-huh, sure thing."

This lack of attention ignites the teacher spirit in Keine, and Akyuu, being the smart girl that she is, notices this and quickly hides herself under her desk.

Keine grabs Drake by his ear and lifts him up with one arm, makes sure he's looking straight into her eyes, and in a teacher-tone she says "Drake Starstriker, are you LISTENING TO ME?"

Drake stammers for a moment until he finally manages to say "ah-I'm sorry miss Keine! I'm just studying!"

The raging teacher bumps her forehead against his and roars "it's Keine-sensei to you, and you place your attention on me when I speak to you, did I make myself clear!"

With a hot ear and trembling in fear, the godly boy nods and exclaims "yes Keine-sensei ma'am!"

She lets go of his ear and demands "now repeat the instructions I just said to you!"

Drake salutes the teacher and says "I must call you Keine-sensei, Keine-sensei!"

Keine furiously replies "the instructions before that! Repeat them to me NOW!"

Drake stammers and looks around, trying to find something that can remind him of those instruction, but when he fails to find a reminder, he sighs and slumps, then says "I- I'm sorry Keine-sensei, I don't-"

Drake feels as though he's just been struck with double-plated iron brick on the forehead, the world around him becomes black for a second, and when the image of the world returns to him, it is spinning around, though one thing is certain, Keine is standing above him with one angry look on her face.

The sexy, yet dangerously enraged teacher loudly says "last time I repeat myself, so **get it memorized**! At morning, you will go to Kyo's house and go with him to the Hakurei Shrine! Now repeat what I just said or you'll get **ANOTHER headbutt**!"

The boy stammers nervously, and just as his world stops spinning he says "at morning, go to Kyo's house and go with him to the Hakurei Shrine, Keine-sensei ma'am!"

Regaining her natural, friendly and happy composure, Keine sighs as she pushes her hair behind her ear and says "there, you see? You can go far as long as you listen to those that are trying to help you."

Drake sighs and relaxes, then says "yeah, yeah. I really hope you don't do that to your students."

Keine fires up once more and exclaims "**what was that?**"

The boy whimpers for a moment then manages to shout out "nothing Keine-sensei! Thank you for your tutelage Keine-sensei!"

The teacher, once more, regains her happy composure and sighs contently, while Akyuu still hides underneath her desk and says to herself "jeez, after all these years she still has that teacher power intact."

Just as the chronicler peeks her head out of the safety of her desk, a large silver washtub falls on her head, knocking her back down underneath said desk.

* * *

Back at Damien's Makai, where it is still late-midday, Ail and Yuki finally arrive to the large and seemingly beautiful palace on the Demonic Plateau, as Damien called it, but remain airborne in case there are any traps waiting for them on the ground.

Ail furiously calls "Damien! Come on out and give Cirno back to me!"

For a second, the entire scene becomes pitch black, and when the little bit of light returns Ail quickly finds out he's on his own.

Yuki is trapped, surrounded by a multitude of strange creatures on the ground to the left, while Damien stands boldly in front of the seemingly clean waters of the palace's pool with his hood down and says "now it's a fair fight. One-on-one! Now, what kind of crown would you like on your head as it adorns my throne? Barb wire, rose vines, your own dissected guts, or perhaps bits of your skull?"

Ail immediately shouts back "how about you just let us go back home with our memories of you flushed down the nearest and most nastiest toilet you can find? I don't think I want to remember your damned face anymore!"

The dark lord scoffs, snaps his fingers, then that tentacle skull-headed creature appears next to Damien in a sudden poof with the crystallized Cirno held high above its head.

The lord of that Makai flicks his finger on the crystal again, making it buzz loudly and crack a bit, then turns around to boast.

Ail is already punching his face by the time he turns around all the way, and before recovering his senses, the Makaian lord crashes against a large white column that turns old and dark-brown as it breaks down over his head.

Ail wastes not time and rushes toward the tentacle creature and Cirno and aims to cut the thing to shreds with his sword of light to free the ice fairy, but the moment he swings that sword downward, he finds himself locked against Damien's dark staff.

With a twist of his wrist, the dark weapon on the Makaian lord's hands unleashes a long black blade with glowing red cracks that look like veins and stops half an inch away from Ail's forehead.

The two fighters push each other a few feet away from each other with a mighty swing from their weapons, each smile at one-another, rush forward, and swing with all their might.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Luna, Ayalina, Spee, Girlie, Budou, Phredia, Michiko (a.k.a. old party lady), Leon, Lina, Drake, Akaizo, the blue haired woman, and Damien's Makai were created by Willie G.R.

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Damien was created by Hydroviper

Special appearance by Lester Wilson

MAY 11 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Sorry I took so long to update. Originally I intended to update the crossover, but real life kicked in HARD, and all my inspiration toward that was sucked dry. The fact that it's not being supported as well as when it started also helped in my drainage of motivation toward that story. So for the time being, I'll focus on Icicle Sukima (and maybe finally update the "Almost Pirates" fic?).**

**Wow, the OC participation in this chapter was high, and there's so much more to come. I know I said Drake was overpowered, but no matter who the heck you think you are, the teacher tone will get you. True, all react differently toward that tone, but Drake's the type that loses it to that tone (of course, it also depends on the mood). And as for Reimu, true, that freak-out seemed a bit off character for her, but think about it. She's a naked girl (vulnerable) in a hot spring on her own next to a strange old lady that appears and disappears suddenly. EVEN SHE'S GOING TO FREAK OUT TO THAT! Oh... you also noticed her out-of-character at the beginning huh? orz Sorry, I just wanted to make that as funny as possible. Ah well, see you next chapter. Oh, and before I forget, the "peach shark" idea came from the drawings of a PIXIV artist where he draws Toyohime in the form of a shark that loves peaches. I thank this genius artist for such an awesome idea.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**NOTE:**

**I took some liberties during the writing of this chapter.**

* * *

Ail and Damien rush straight toward each other, each winding his weapon for the next attack, and when in range the two swing with all their might; Damien sideways and Ail downward; and all they achieve is to push each other away by several feet after the mighty clash.

They both skid backward while on their feet, though Ail drops on his left knee and grabs the ground with his left hand to stop.

After stopping, the light-weapon wielder points at the Makaian lord and says "I'm gonna make you regret ever touching that crystal!"

The dark lord chuckles and mockingly replies "oh, I'm so scared. Come over here and-"

Six bright laser beams fly straight toward Damien, forcing him to bend his entire body several ways to avoid being hit.

One laser flies by the right of his neck, another under his left armpit, another just between his legs, another above his left knee, another next to the back of his right knee, and the last one underneath his right elbow.

Damien recovers quickly and points at Ail, then drops to the ground to avoid a thick white beam that was aimed between his eyes.

He raises his eyes from the ground to see the wielder of light with a raised arm a few feet in front of him and starts to growl.

His growl turns into a roar, he punches a small rock in front of himself, and a giant dragon made of black and purple flames appear behind the Makaian lord, startling Ail long enough for Damien to get up and shout "alright, no damned playing around then!"

The moment he finishes his sentence, the black dragon flies away from Damien and rushes toward Ail, who increases the size of his weapon of light and holds it with both hands.

The dragon roars so loud and ferociously the entire ground shakes, making Ail lose his balance, thus allowing the dragon to fly right through him full-force.

The half youkai manages to create a barrier of light to avoid taking full damage from the black flames, but his left forearm got some damage and now feels a bit numb.

As soon as the dragon flies away Ail prepares another beam in front of his right fist, but Damien is already in front of him, saying "**boo!** Did I scare you?"

Surrounding his right arm with black flames, the boy in black punches Ail on the left cheek and sends him flying backward.

Before allowing him to land, Damien flies fast to his opponent and kicks him on the chin.

The visitor grunts after the kick and crashes against a single tree, ramming his head against the trunk and getting a goop of black sap on the left side of his face.

Damien laughs as Ail slowly recovers from the blow and sits on the remaining tree trunk.

The boy touches his cheek with his right hand to see what's on his face, and when he notices he's been touched by the tainted sap, his reaction it to smile vilely toward his adversary.

With a sudden burst of pure energy, Ail takes off toward Damien and slams his tainted hand on the lord's face, grips his cheeks tight to make sure the sap enters his mouth and nose, then rams his numb left fist on Damien's stomach and shoots a thick white beam from it at point-blank range.

The Makaian lord groans loudly after being sent flying toward the poisonous, seemingly-clear-water pool in front of the seemingly majestic palace, and to Ail's surprise Damien only skids on the water and falls on its top face-down, but doesn't sink in.

Ail stares at Damien in surprise, then the demonic lord starts to laugh as he stands back up on his feet while on top of the water, looks at his rival with a smile, then asks "what did you expect? Did you really think I'd fall to one of my OWN TRAPS?"

He points at himself with his thumb and declares "I AM THE LORD OF THESE LANDS, ANILAN! If you want to defeat me, you'll have to do so the old-fashioned way, but we all know you lack the gulls to-"

Again, Damien stops mid-sentence due to Ail attacking relentlessly with a scimitar made of light, but this time the lord is ready, and he and his rival are matching bade swings while jumping on top of the poisonous waters as though walking on the ground.

To Ail's dismay, the black sap on his skin starts to fizzle as it penetrates his skin.

* * *

Meanwhile, to the left of Ail and Damien's battlefield on the plateau, Yuki cackles like a maniac as she flips, jumps, spirals and break-dances fireballs the size of her torso at the many creatures trying to get too close to her.

After she creates a wide-enough parameter for herself, the fire witch smiles while breathing through her mouth and looking all around herself, then says "oi, you guys thought I was a push-over right? Heh-heh, SO DAMNED WRONG!"

Her voice echoes all around the immediate area and she begins to dance around while drawing in the air with fire that comes from her fingertips, and at the same time, to avoid having her spell interrupted, she surrounds herself with spiraling fireballs.

She draws a childish flower and sends it flying toward the left, the silhouette of a house and laughs while sending it toward her front, the silhouette of a curvy woman, and sends it flying behind herself, and all the spiraling fireballs fly to her right.

All the creatures there scream and run away from Yuki's fire while the crazy Makaian witch cackles insanely and stands proudly while saying out loud "yeah! No spell cards means no holding back!"

She looks around herself to make sure nobody is close, and then she notices the tentacle-bodied creature that's holding Cirno hiding behind a thick tree while watching his master and the 'invader' fight.

She quiets down and prepares a fireball on her right hand while saying to herself "ah, this is perfect. I'll save the ice fairy and make sure Ail doesn't leave me here. Heck, I might even get another cake from his house."

She takes a step forward but stops, her fireball fizzles out, then she starts to tremble.

Inside her mind she can hear Damien as he says "_so, you beat all my subjects with your insanity. Well, miss Yuki, it's a good thing I know what's inside your creepy little mind._"

The witch starts looking around herself and asks "h-hello? I-is someone trying to scare me? E-er... please stop that."

Inside her mind, Damien says "_so you hate pink, don't you? That shadow woman gave you one heck of a trauma, didn't she? Say, why don't I help you, and __**force you to face your fears!**_"

Yuki yelps when a black and purple beam strikes the ground right in front of her feet and takes a humanoid shape.

The beam starts shaping into a woman, and Yuki gasps at the new sight in front of her.

It's an exact replica of herself, at least in body, seeing as this clone's hair is light-blue, her eyes are red, her smile is vile, she shows her mastery over water by holding one water ball on each fingertip on her right hand, but what affects Yuki the most is that this clone of hers is wearing a fuchsia-pink outfit and hat with frilly rose ribbons around her waist, collar and hat.

She knows this was made to scare the hell out of her and that she should not allow fear to take over, but images of that bubbly woman that loved pink, Yuka's shadow self, pops into her mind and she's quickly running away from the clone while crying "get away from meee~!"

Bars of water sprout from the ground and form a large cage, trapping Yuki and her water-wielding, pink-wearing clone inside.

The fire witch desperately shoots several fireballs at the water bars only to watch them re-form right before her eyes, and after giving up her hopes for escaping she turns around to face her clone.

Yuki breathes hard through her mouth in order to keep up with her rapid-beating heart, yet she manages to summon enough strength to prepare four spiraling fireballs in front of herself.

Her clone smiles vilely, holds a large ball of water on her right hand, and in a sweet yet sinister voice mimicking that of Yuka's, she says "come on darling, let's see what you are truly made of."

Hearing that voice from that pink-wearing witch frightens Yuki so much, two of her fireballs fizzle out and the remaining two stop spiraling and shrink.

The frightened fire witch gulps, a tear escapes her right eye, then she jumps to the right to avoid a sharp-looking water spear that eats through her fireballs and splashes against the water bars behind herself.

* * *

Ail and Damien continue to clash weapons on top of the _deceiving_ waters, and the more they fight, the larger their respective auras become; Ail's an aura of warm light, and Damien's a black and purple aura of cold darkness.

As the auras expand the mirroring illusion around them slowly fades, and the majestic palace becomes a derelict ruin that look just about ready to crumble, the trees around them turn back to having black leaves and red trunks, and the pool underneath the battlers becomes a pond greyish-black water.

After one last swing, Ail jumps away from the pond and Damien, claps his hands together as though praying, then loudly says "I really must thank you mister Damien! It's the first time I experience my powers without the limit the spell card system places on them."

The dark boy snarls toward Ail, who continues "now, let me show you just how grateful I am by showing you what I can do now."

Damien wastes no time and is already chanting a spell, while Ail's eyes turn into the normal world's night sky, a pair of ethereal dragon wings the same size as his body materialize on his back, and the sword of light on his right hand becomes brighter.

Ail smiles and shouts "HAVE SOME JEWELED CORE!", and several eight-pointed stars fly to the Makaian lord at the speed of light, and while some remain whole, other shatter into smaller pieces.

Damien finishes his own chant just as the wave of stars is about to reach him, and a large tower made of black and purple fire springs from the ground and protects the dark boy from harm.

Ail takes flight to go after Damien and force him out of hiding while his stars keep appearing from his auric field, but by the time he has the Makaian lord on his sight, the dark lord fires a massive black and purple beam at him, and Ail quickly claps his hands and several rapid-spreading, rapid-rotating rings spread out of his heart and break the beam to nothing.

Damien takes flight and shoots black and purple fireballs from his fingertips at Ail, while said boy cancels his own stars of light and lessens the number of rings surrounding him in order to shoot several white and orange orbs from his hands and counter Damien's attacks.

The Makaian lord snarls, raises his right hand, quickly summons a massive orb of black and dark-purple fire, then throws it straight at Ail, following his attack with various purple-fire wyverns and small black fireballs behind it.

Ail dives down to avoid the massive orb of black fire, then extends his arms and white and green bullets the size of his hands spring from the ground beneath him to form a giant pulsating heart in front of himself, then those large bullets spread around to blast the smaller fireballs and wyverns out of the air.

The dragon-winged-boy looks at Damien, and while more green and white bullets spring from the ground to protect him, he aims his arms at the dark Makaian lord and shoots large blue orbs that fly rapidly toward Damien.

The dark boy looks at the orbs and says to himself "freakin' homing!" then takes evasive maneuvers.

Ail smiles as a pair of white lasers shoot from his aura of light and sway around Damien, trapping him between them and giving the homing orbs the chance needed to hit their mark.

The Makaian lord chuckles confidently as he avoids the lasers, bullets and homing orbs by twirling around the air and shooting small black oval bullets at the smaller bullets, then he is struck on the forehead by a third laser beam that splits from the right beam.

Damien stops moving because of the sudden shock, the five remaining homing orbs explode hard on his back, and he falls head-first to the ground, lifting up a thick cloud of dust upon impact.

Ail smiles as he cancels his spells and looks toward his fallen rival and waits.

* * *

To the left of that battlefield, Yuki breathes hard through her mouth, whimpering as she rolls to the right to avoid some more water lances, and when her clone stops shooting, she's so nervous that she forgets to shoot her fireballs at her opponent and ends up rolling away from water lances again.

This time her clone decides to stop playing around and cuts Yuki off with one boiling water lance further to the right of the fire witch.

Once Yuki stops rolling, the clone with Yuka's voice asks "are you really that frightened by a silly little color? What kind of a disgrace are you?"

The fire witch's reply is a trembling whimper, then the water witch continues "I see. Shinki must be so disappointed in having someone like you as a creation. Tch, if it had been me I'd have discarded you and started from scratch. Pathetic disgrace."

Yuki reacts with a gasp upon hearing her mother's name and nervously exclaims "h-hey! M-mom l-loves m-me v-ve-very much! I-I'm not a disgrace!"

The clone witch tilts her head left, and in a deceivingly sweet tone of voice she says "are you sure about that sweetheart? Someone that's afraid of a stupid color can't be loved. You're just in denial."

The cloned girl gasps and spreads some water force fields with her hands in front of herself to fizzle out a pair of massive fireballs, and looking surprised she says "my, my, my, my! I think I hit a raw nerve in this unloved failure."

Yuki's fear over pink is completely forgotten, evident on her red rage-filled face as she claps her hands and creates a blue fireball the size of her whole body in front of herself and exclaims "water bitch is going DOWN!"

She shoots that blue fireball with such force, the water witch screams as her barrier and her cage are turned to mist, and now she finds herself screaming for help while Yuki chases after her unleashing a hellish load of blue fireballs the size of fists.

The enraged fire witch increases the size of her fireballs the more she shoots while the water witch tries to zigzag in mid-air in hopes of getting behind Yuki somehow, but the fire witch catches on to this tactic, fakes shooting to the left but shoots to the right, then lands a fast and unforgiving blue fireball on the clone's butt, making her squeal in pain and fall face-first to the ground below, making a large hole on the red ground where she fell.

Still airborne, Yuki points down at her clone and loudly exclaims "that's what you get for taunting THIS proud fire witch, you WITCH! Er, I mean, BITCH!"

A few seconds pass by and there is no response from the clone, so feeling confident and proud Yuki punches her own chest and says "ha! She dared call me pathetic when she couldn't even take a beating the manly womanly way! Pfff, so weak!"

The hole where the water witch fell in starts overflowing with pink water, but by the time Yuki realizes this, her clone bursts out of the hole like a geyser eruption, then appears before Yuki encased in a watery rectangular gem that spreads eight thin spider legs, two giant crab-claws, and three thinner arms from the back that move with great agility and speed.

Yuki chokes on herself upon laying eyes on the pink-water spider creature in front of her, and from the center of the body, where her clone is hiding in, the water witch loudly exclaims "who the HELL are you calling a bitch? You're going to eat those words so bad, you will.. umm.. wish I didn't, er... do stuff to you!"

Yuki doesn't know how to react; to either be freaked out by the pink monster, or to laugh at her clone's lack of creativity.

Regardless, long before she can decide, the black and white Makaian witch has to dive and maneuver herself between those spider legs that want to swat her off the sky and those claws that want to snap her in half.

* * *

Meanwhile, at midnight on Heaven's peach fields, Tenshi, Iku, Spee, and Girlie hide behind a cloud mound and stare back at Toyohime, who stands under the peach trees with an innocent smile on her face, minding her own business.

She looks at the girls and waves, then the staring girls all scatter behind the mound and Tenshi growls and says "she's on to us! Iku, we might need a distraction!"

The dragon messenger stares at the celestial, blinks twice, then Spee is the one that asks "why do I feel this is just you blowing things out of proportion again?"

Three large peaches fly through the air and drop toward the girls, then Tenshi panics, grabs Iku and Spee by the arms and jumps away as she shouts "**PEACH GRENAAAAADES!**"

Girlie stays right where she is and looks to the crazy celestial while ignoring those peaches.

The black-haired angel stares at the heavenly fruits after the fall on the ground, then there is a loud **BOOM**, and everything turns black for her.

Now she lies sprawled on the clouds with a pair of spinning eyes and peach-stains all over her oversized robe, hair, and wings.

From the far right, Tenshi growls as she looks at the smiling Lunarian and says "that little monster! She really knows how to play!"

Iku and Spee get off the clouds and look infinitely confused toward the exploded peach grenades and their fallen angel comrade, but neither finds the proper words to say.

Their celestial friend raises her sword, its yellow beam rises from the hilt, and with courage in her voice Tenshi shouts "I'll avenge you, my fallen comrade! CHAAAAARGE!"

Iku and Spee try to call back the celestial, but she ignores their call and rushes straight toward Toyohime, who smiles innocently while she awaits for the raging girl.

The oarfish youkai sighs, looks at the blonde angel and asks "shall we prepare the backup?"

Spee bows her head and casually says "like always."

Tenshi screams as she gets closer to her target and swings her sword with might when in range.

Toyohime just smiles and moves left, right, ducks or jumps to avoid the attacks from the celestial, then calmly asks "so how come these peaches keep growing back so fast? And they are so big, juicy and delicious too! How come, huh?"

Tenshi gets furious to the fact that she can't land a single blow on the invader, and that said woman is asking questions so casually while being attacked.

Though furiously attacking, the celestial answers "they are Heaven's peach trees! The food here is PERFECT, so that's how come! Now stay still so I can hit you!"

Toyohime giggles, then says "is that so? I think I'll take some with me then! I'm sure Yorihime will love them!"

The celestial roars furiously, stops attacking, and takes a spell card out of her left pocket and declares "Sword Play, Sword of Swagger!"

The Sword of Hisou ignites in scarlet and Tenshi swings it with all her might and with great speed, but Toyohime's smile only gets friendlier and she moves according to the celestials moves, even matching her speed.

Tenshi continues her attack for a whole minute and eventually starts to slow down due to fatigue.

When the spoiled brat finally lands a hit on the Lunarian, she's so exhausted it's more like a tap on the shoulders.

Toyohime giggles, blows on the celestial's forehead, and Tenshi falls backward on the fluffy clouds.

The Lunarian bends down and stares at the exhausted celestial for a moment, straightens back up, then says "miss, it seems you need some more exercise. You always need to do your exercises, eat your meals, and take plenty of naps as fast as you can."

A silver washtub falls on top of Toyohime's head and dents, though the Lunarian looks unaffected, that is, until a thick blue lightning bolt strikes at the very center of the washtub, making the sandy-blonde girl scream out loud and drop on her back in front of Tenshi.

From far away, Iku and Spee high-five while Spee cheers "alright, we ROCK!"

The oarfish youkai giggles and nods, then says "never underestimate the fever my friend!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Damien's Makai, where it is just about to turn to noon, Yuki flies around the pink water spider while shooting as many fireballs as she can, and at the same time she's evading the spider legs, massive crab claws that try to pinch her unbelievably fast, and the rapid-moving arms on its back.

Though the arms at the back are fast, that is still one big blind spot for the water witch and it takes her some time to move that large body, so the fire witch takes advantage of this and unleashes her strongest blue fireballs when behind her target.

After striking her water-shielded clone on the back three more times Yuki gets cocky and exclaims "ha, this is going to be cake!", but doing this gives her away and the three arms fling violently and cut her left arm, the right side of her face, and her abdomen.

She crashes on the ground and grunts as she writhes around; the pink water isn't just for show, a lesson hard learned by the fire witch.

All three cuts burn, throb itch and feels as though they are spreading open on their own, a rather dangerous water spell that aims to affect both physically and mentally.

Yuki grunts and whimpers as she writhes around and presses her hands on her wounds, then desperately shouts "Mai, Yumeko, mom! Help! It hurts!"

The blonde girl screams louder when she feels something large and pointy press itself just above the wound on her stomach and starts pushing down hard enough to push the air out of Yuki, but not pierce her skin.

The clone has one of those massive spider legs on Yuki's stomach and is pushing her down while smiling viciously and sinisterly whispering "for a moment there I thought I had failed my lord Damien, but I am so grateful you are so stupid. Now I get to kill you and earn my lord's praise! Die you pathetic disgrace!"

A sharp silver beam flies through the air and cuts two of the spider legs from the left and a third from the right, making the clone lose her balance and fall to the ground, saving Yuki from a horrible death.

At Gensokyo's Makai, inside the great hall of Pandemonium, Shinki pulls her sizzling right hand out of an oval mirror with a blood red frame.

She stares into the mirror with contempt and says "that thing almost took my girl."

From behind Shinki, Yumeko, the elegant, short-sword wielding kick-ass maid with a nice body says "lady Shinki, you risked much with that."

She has long wavy blonde hair, yellow eyes, and wears a maid's headdress, a long red maid's outfit, a long white apron, and elegant black shoes.

Shinki turns around with that same look of contempt on her face and exclaims "what would you have had me do? Nobody over there is willing to betray Damien, and I wasn't going to let that thing take Yuki from me!"

The blonde maid nods elegantly, then says "but now you can only watch. There's no way to help them anymore. At least not for a few hours."

Shinki turns to face the mirror again and can see Yuki slowly standing up and Ail fighting Damien.

She sighs and lowers her head, rests it on the fingers of her right hand, then says "dammit, I wasn't thinking."

* * *

Back at Damien's Makai, said lord stands on the ground and has covered his arms in a black aura to deflect the relentless attacks from the enraged visitor in the air.

Ail is still shooting bullets from the ground and has left a large and uneven hole beneath him, while at the same time he showers Damien with one laser after another, and even has gone as far as to try and take the dark lord by surprise with a few exploding orbs.

Damien can only defend against Ail's attacks and is constantly missing any chance of attacks due to the explosive orbs that force him to cover his face from the flying bits of rock that scatter from the explosions.

The attacks stop and Ail remains in the air, then looks down at Damien as though looking down at a pile of scat.

The Makaian lord looks up at Ail, waits for any sudden attacks, then shouts "who the hell is supposed to be the villain here? Man, attacking me like that and not even giving me a chance! I thought better of you, Ail!"

The boy clenches his teeth and snarls, then furiously shouts "**SHUT IT!** You threatened Cirno and your retarded clone almost killed Yuki. I'm not gonna forgive you! Take this moment and look around this world, Damien. It's going to be your last!"

Ail lifts his numb left arm, which is covered by a thick concentration of light, then shoots a white beam equal to the size of Marisa's Dragon Meteor.

Damien, though winded, it not defenseless, and in a second he manages to summon enough dark energy to unleash an equally large black beam with both hands to counter Ail's.

The beams crash close to the Makaian lord but he's not giving up and continues to fight back, while the outsider smiles and loudly says "I don't know why you want to kill me this time, but getting my friends involved what the worst mistake you ever made. Your life is now forfeit!"

Ail intensifies his beam and easily pushes Damien's back, then stops and frowns.

The dark lord of the Mirror Makai smiles and exclaims "finally, the poison's kicking in! Man, so slow. I'm going to have to increase the manure distribution."

The dense boy starts to sweat as he struggles to keep his beam alive and stay airborne, then Damien's beam eats through his and hits its mark.

Ail screams as the black beam burns and freezes him at the same time as the poison inside his body is making him feel groggy and weak, and as soon as the black beam stops, Ail falls to the ground while Damien watches him with an excited smile.

The lord's smile turns around immediately when his rival flies again when only two feet away from the ground and heads straight toward him.

Ail activates his sword and Damien summons his staff back to his hand and twists it to reveal three black blades with glowing red cracks, then they lock their weapons as soon as the brown-haired boy lands in front of the dark lord.

Even though poisoned and feeling slightly numb, Ail still manages to push Damien back, but it is obvious he is focusing solely on this, and noticing this the Makaian lord smiles, swiftly removes his weapon and steps to the right.

This causes his adversary to stumble forward, so he takes this chance and swings his staff, thrusts one of the blades into Ail's hip, then pulls him closer, grabs the back of his neck, then whispers into the brown-haired boy's ear "this is where you die."

Damien shoots a black flame directly on Ail's neck while painfully pulling his blade out of the boy's skin and allows him to fall face-first on the ground.

* * *

Meanwhile, to the left of the plateau, Yuki slowly gets up, groaning in pain as she does.

When she's finally on her feet, the first thing she notices to that to her left the pink water spider is upside-down, trying to somehow get itself back on its feet while the water witch is still inside the rectangular body.

Yuki holds her stomach and breathes through her mouth as she gets a little closer, inspecting the monster's missing legs.

She smiles when she realizes how lucky she is to be alive, then looks at her clone with disgust and says "so now you're stuck inside your own protective spell and can't even get back up. What a pity. Well, seeing... seeing as I am in a good mood, I'm going to help you."

The clone moves the legs and large claws in an attempt to either turn around or somehow hit Yuki, but all she manages to do is end up whimpering and saying "too heavy!"

She opens her eyes wide when Yuki jumps on what's suppose to be the creature's stomach, where said clone is, quickly raises both hands in the air, prepares one massive blue fireball, then throws it on the clone's face without showing a strand of mercy.

The clone screams so loud her scream echoes all the way to the demonic village, where the rapids around it have lost the water-like illusion and reveals to be a tranquil river of black water.

At the plateau, Yuki coughs after the watery spider becomes a mass of sizzling steam, but she remains inside the steam as she bends down.

The misty steam slowly dissipates to reveal the fire witch staring down to where her clone was just a moment ago.

Her face reveals confusion, amazement, and annoyance, all at once, then she exclaims "wait a minute! You're that peacock boy from the village that started crying when you saw us. Oh, I have a GOOD mind to pluck that feathery ass of yours!"

The child coughs, looks up at Yuki, then weakly says "I'm a... girl... you stupid witch.", then collapses.

The fire witch squints her eyes when taking a closer look at the humanoid, then turns her head to the right of the plateau and stares at the tentacle-bodied creature that is still holding Cirno and is staring back at her with fright.

She straightens up, claps her hands, makes a sword of fire as she separates her hands, then slowly walks toward the odd skull-headed creature.

Said creature starts to whimper, and with a raspy voice he shouts "no! No please! Here, take the fairy! I'm not getting paid anyway!"

The monster screams as it runs away while Yuki stands in place, takes a deep breath, holds the wound on her stomach, then kneels beside the ice fairy.

She notices how Cirno now looks like she's having a nightmare inside the crystal, passes her hands through the cracks, then sighs and says "this thing's about to shatter to pieces. Better get this over to Ail as quickly as I can."

Right after she says that, she can hear him roar and Damien shouting "just die already!"

* * *

Though poisoned and feeling a bit numb from that last attack, Ail matches Damien's blade with his, now having one scimitar on each hand because of his Yozoragan mode being active.

The Makaian lord doesn't really seem to mind having to block two swords now, seeing as his adversary is now attacking at the same level as he is and is not presenting much of a challenge, at least for long.

Somehow, Ail's strength returns, though slowly, and as soon as Damien notices this he tries a desperate lunge at his opponent's stomach, which Ail evades with ease by flying away.

The brown-haired dense boy claps his hands together to make one massive sword of light and exclaims "you're finished! Give up now and let us leave or I'll beat you to a bloody pulp and leave this place anyway!"

Damien's response is a vile grin and a quick chant, and as soon as he starts chanting, his mirror illusion on that Makai slowly disappears.

The houses at the village show their true form; derelict buildings in desperate need for repair, and all the trees all over the land turn back to having black leaves and red trunks.

Oddly enough, the red grass becomes green and looks rather natural, and all bodies of water show their true nature, most having sickly colors and being poisonous to outsiders.

At the seemingly poisonous lake, after the water turns crystalline, Akaizo's mansion returns to being a wonderful white palace with a golden roof, white walls and with a black iron fence surrounding said palace.

As for his wife, the rags she was wearing become an elegant white robe with a triangular opening on her belly and a smaller upside-down triangular cut over her chest, showing off her cleavage.

Golden bands surround her breasts and her waist, but her hair and figure remain the same, which surprisingly enough is quite beautiful to human's standards until a large green dragon tail spring right out of her back.

Akaizo remains looking the same save for having a princely shirt on, and as he and his wife explore each other, they embrace one-another and whisper quick compliments before locking lips with a passionate kiss.

Back at the Demonic Plateau, Ail watches as Damien summons every bit of power available to him and how his aura turns darker with every second, but the dense, yet wise boy isn't just about to give up.

He calls back his weapons, claps his hands together, then focuses his energy and the energy from his bracelet around his chest.

The Makaian lord roars loudly enough to echo his voice all over his land, and although at first nothing seems to happen, a massive orb of black fire forms above Damien's right arm and he immediately throws it at Ail.

The light user takes flight to avoid being hit byt the massive black orb, but never loses concentration, not even when Yuki screams the moment a ridiculously insane shower of black meteors fall from the sky accompanied by large dragons made of purple fire.

Several rings of yellow light spread from Ail's chest and while five of those stay around the boy to protect him, seven others spread around as far as where Yuki and Cirno are; about half a mile.

The rings around Ail start spinning fast until they form a large dome that fires eight lasers around itself, though unlike other times, the beams are shooting upward to deal with the dragons and meteors.

Damien smiles at this fortuitous opportunity and unleashes a hellish barrage of purple fireballs at Ail, but the brown-haired boy is no fool and shouts "this is my Holy Dance! You can't stop it!", and from the very shield that protects him white orbs in triangular formation fly down toward Damien, consuming his fireballs and exploding into small bullets after impact.

Damien's own meteors and dragons explode into smaller fireballs when they explode, but they are weakened by the time they reach Ail's barrier and turn to nothing before even touching the boy.

* * *

From the ground to the far left of the plateau, Yuki holds Cirno while staring awestruck toward Ail and Damien, and shivers when the immense power both boys are emanating reaches her.

Soon she discovers she's not shivering by her lonesome self; she looks at the crystal on her hands and realizes it's trembling very violently and quickly notices the cracks on said crystal begin to expand.

She gasps when the ice fairy starts to flail about and cry inside the crystal, then says to herself "oh boy, this doesn't look promising at all."

At the battlefield, Ail and Damien focus solely on each other, Damien using his staff and some fireballs to defend against Ail's light and attack said boy, and Ail uses the dancing laser beams to clear the sky from the dragons and meteors while trying to land a shot on Damien.

From the ground, the Makaian lord shouts "You're going to pay for humiliating me Ail! I'll make you regret ever challenging me. After you are dead, I'm going after Kyo and make him pay for his betrayal!"

Ail's light intensifies as the boy screams to the air and clears it of all current dragons, fireballs and meteors, and while the sky gets filled with more dark attacks Ail shouts "this is it? That is IT? All this crap because I BEAT YOU? I am sick of retards like you, I don't care about the promise! I'm going to **ERADICATE YOU!**"

The bullets from Ail's barrier become larger and more intense than Damien's own meteors, but at the cost of four laser beams, thus allowing some meteors and dragons to slam against his shield, but it doesn't matter.

All Ail wants right now is to vaporize Damien, erase him from existence.

Nothing else seems to matter to him at this moment, and noticing this new turn of events, Damien panics and runs the hell away from those massive orbs of light.

They are large, they are fast, and they are aimed at the dark lord.

One of the orbs falls too close to Damien and the explosion sends said lord flying eight feet in the air.

Although panicked, Damien notices Yuki with Cirno, grins, and just before falling back down he shoots a single purple fireball toward them and purposely dives down, probably to hide under the lifted dust.

Yuki notices the fireball too late, reacts foolishly and falls on her back, allowing the fireball to hit the intended target, the crystallized ice fairy.

There is one loud bang, a disturbing screech, then the sound of shattering glass reaches Ail.

The boy looks toward Cirno and Yuki and watches as the ice fairy gasps for air as she falls to the ground on her back.

He cancels his spell and dives down, ignoring the dragons and meteors striking him on the back and shoulders.

As he dives, the world around him slows down and he thinks "_no! Cirno! She has to come back with me. I can't let her die! She's not even part of this, gods-dammit! A god. SUWAKO! GOD OF MORIYA, GIVE ME STRENGTH!_"

Damien jumps in front of Ail with his bladed staff ready to strike his head, but Ail reacts so fast, not even he himself notices what happened.

He summons a staff of light that grows right through Damien's stomach, he twirls in the air and flicks the Makaian lord off his weapon like a pile of garbage, and he instinctively opens a gap underneath Cirno while thinking of the Moriya Shrine.

The gap twists and turns, takes and icy-blue color, the eyes inside turn into tiny orange gems, and it makes one loud **vwoosh** noise as arctic winds blow from within.

Damien shouts "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!", shoots a curse toward the Ice Gap, and when Ail touches Cirno, he, Yuki and the ice fairy are sucked inside the odd gap, followed by Damien's curse that enters the exact second the gap closes.

Calling off his dark spell, the Makaian lord smiles as he drops on his back on the ground and says "take that, you bastard. I hope you like flying a few extra hours in the void."

* * *

It's early morning at the Hakurei Shrine, and Reimu and Rika are flying over the shrine's roof to get a better look at the massive magical circle in the shrine's training grounds.

Reimu smiles with accomplishment at the sight of her rune that, with help of Phredia, looks like a well-made drawing instead of a clutter of charms pasted together.

She looks to Rika and smiles as she says "now all we have to do is wait for Drake, and we can seal those powers of him into spell cards."

Tenshi lazily floats down from the clouds between the girls, and before Rika can reply to her mistress, the celestial groggily says "hey. What's up? Ah, the magic thingy is done."

Looking at the baggy, blood-shot eyes and messed-up face of her friend the celestial, Rika asks "Momoko, what happened to you?"

Reimu chortles though Tenshi doesn't mind as she smiles at Rika and says "very long night."

Reimu looks down and exclaims "hey, what's going on?"

The girls look to the shrine maiden with curiosity, but before they ask what is wrong they notice the magical circle is reacting by itself, the eight torches around it ignite on their own, the rune in the center glows, and after a quick whistle from the magical circle, said drawing disappears from sight.

At that very moment, inside the icy void, Ail, Yuki and the weakened-but-recovering Cirno notice Damien's curse behind them and try to fly away, and that's when they also notice the blessing in front of them.

Though tired, Cirno cries "what now? Someone please stop this already!"

Ail grabs the girls, forces them to embrace, then pushes them away just before getting struck by both blessing and curse, and disappears.

Yuki and Cirno call for him, even though it's a futile effort from their part and now find themselves floating inside a cold icy-blue void.

The ice fairy and the fire witch are about to start panicking, but a bright light in front of them gets their full attention, though they aren't sure what this all means.

* * *

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu is freaking out, asking "but why? It was perfect, nobody touched it, so why did that happen?"

She grabs Rika by the shoulders, and even though she feels her maid twitching to her touch, the maiden shakes the maid and exclaims "why do these things keep happening?"

Tenshi forcefully separates the girls, gets between them, then angrily demands "hey, can't you see you're scaring her? Stop that!"

Rika tries her best to look calm, but she can't help but curve up a little and cover her own shoulders with her wings while nervously saying "n-no, it's alright. Miss Reimu just had-"

From below, Youmu shouts "I saw that!"

The half-ghost and her ghost-half fly up to meet with the maiden and exclaims "you bully, picking on your servant like that! I'm going to have to punish you!"

She unsheathes her sword while Reimu points at her and says "Yuyuko bullies you all the time!"

Rika shivers a bit, then shouts "no wait! Miss Reimu, miss Youmu, Tenshi, stop this! My lady Reimu just had a rough night! Look, it's ok, I'm fine, really!"

Rika's words fall on deaf ears, evident when Tenshi reveals her sword and says "this doesn't concern you, you undead ghost-girl. Scram!"

Rika whimpers to herself and reaches for Tenshi's shoulder, but stops when Reimu angrily says "Rika, be a dear and take care of the shrine. I'm going to have to teach these two meddlers a lesson!"

Rika sighs, and with her arms hanging down as she slumps she says "as you wish, my lady Reimu.", and flies down to the shrine.

Tenshi looks at Reimu and says "using Rika like she's just a tool! I won't allow this anymore Hakurei maiden!"

Youmu growls and says "though I hate siding with this annoying brat, I agree with her. I won't forgive you Hakurei!"

Reimu stares without showing a single ounce of emotion, takes out a few needles and yellow amulets from her pockets, then sinisterly says "you two are way out of line. It's time to exterminate you."

From below, Kyo has Medicine sitting on his shoulders, to his left is Luna, and to the right of them is Drake, and all are looking up at the three girls as they start their fight.

After listening to the girls screaming, bangs, zaps and ripping clothes, Drake casually asks "so you say this is normal for her?"

Kyo, Medicine, Su-San and Luna all nod simultaneously, then Drake says "then why doesn't she just seal them off for good already? From what I could read at Akyuu's house, she only sealed those youkai things before implementing that spell card rule."

Kyo sighs and replies "well if she did, we wouldn't have these many friends, would we?"

Drake coldly replies "youkai, demons, and ghouls cannot be friends to humans. They only pretend to be."

Medicine angrily exclaims "hey, I'm right here!"

Luna gasps, looks with surprise at Drake, then asks "wait a minute! If you are from the west, how come you could read Japanese?"

Even the foreigner looks surprised at the girl after that sudden change of subject, then clears his throat and says "er, I'm not sure. Maybe it was that thing Yukari did to me... or maybe it's a god thing. I wouldn't know yet because those bastard upstairs refuse to let me into the archives yet."

At that moment they can hear a whisper coming from the shrine, and quickly learn the source is Suzaku.

She flies in front of Kyo and telepathically asks "_can I ask a favor of you?_"

* * *

It's dark as Ail, once again, lifts his face out of some grass, though this time he knows his eyes are closed, and the grass smells very familiar to him.

He sits up, rubs his eyes, finally opens them, and the first thing he sees is one terrorized man with a straw hat trying to push himself into his horse, but ends up stumbling into his carriage.

Ail sighs, calmly looks at the man, then asks "excuse me sir, could you tell me where I am?"

The man stammers, smacks the back if his horse, and once in a safe distance he shouts "**DEMON! YOUKAI DEMON~!**"

Ail spring to his feet and looks around while courageously asking "demon youkai? Where?", then after he flaps his left ethereal dragon wing her realizes the man was frightened of him.

The boy raises an eyebrow and thinks "_ok, I need to know where the heck I am._"

He flies up to the sky above the trees and sees a very familiar sight, but at the same time, a not-so familiar sight.

The dense one looks around and says to himself " this is... Gensokyo?"

He can see the Human Village, though it's smaller than he remembers it, and he can't see Kyo's, or Maribel and Renko's houses anywhere.

He spots Keine's school, but there is no tower, no bell, and the place looks a bit run down, and has the windows in front covered with some old boards.

Ail scratches his head and says to himself "this is weird. Um, let's see, there's the bamboo forest, and there's the Forest of Magic... and over there is the... what?"

He flies higher with a look of complete shock on his face, then looks toward the Misty Lake, rubs his eyes, then asks himself "it's red? And what's up with all that mist? Wh-where am I?"

He looks for the island where the Scarlet Devil Mansion is, but the mansion looks darker than it should, and he can't see any fairy activity in the area.

What shocks him the most is when he looks at the Youkai mountain and realizes the Moriya Shrine is not there.

The boy starts flying in zigzags, undecided on where to go first, ends up in the very same spot he started, then holds his hard-beating chest.

After gulping down his heart, Ail says to himself "alright Ail, calm down. Ok, it's obvious Cirno and Yuki aren't here. Fine, I can do well on my own. But now I'm not sure where here is. This looks like Gensokyo, but it's so different!"

He looks toward the Forest of Magic and can see Alice's house, though it's in a state of disrepair, and vines have taken over the roof, plus the small tower seems to be missing.

Again Ail gulps down his heart and says "ok, it's ok. I'll just go to the village and ask where I am. M-maybe this is one of Damien's tricks. Y-yeah, that's right Ail, so calm yourself down. Now..."

Without further self-debate, the half youkai boy flies toward the village, getting lower to the ground the closer he gets to the houses.

* * *

After ten minutes of flying, Ail decides to land and walk the last five minutes of dirt road while thinking "_yes, a good idea to stay low-profile until I know what the heck is going on. Damn... I'm getting hungry. I wonder how Sanae and Budou are doing. I miss them so much._"

His thoughts are suddenly interrupted by a strange feeling behind himself.

He quickens his pace but the feeling only gets stronger, and the moment he turns around he is attacked by a multitude of ghouls.

His reaction is to shout one loud "what the HECK?", then shoot some beams while running toward the village.

Though the tiny round ghouls with long tails, white bodies and triangle bandanas fall to a single shot, there are enough to overwhelm the boy, so he decides it is more prudent to stop shooting and start running faster, which he does.

The village is right in front of him, the ghouls are chasing after him, and of all the moments to want to use the bathroom, Ail has picked the worst.

He jumps to reach his goal, rolls on the ground, stops on his feet inside the village, and raises his arms in celebration to his success.

The creepy ghouls all fly above his head and pose along with the boy, then several bullets fly from some of the nearby houses toward the little ghouls, and what few survive the slaughter fly away and hide under the trees again.

A shaggy black-haired woman in a blue kimono approaches Ail and ask "are you alright boy?"

The brown-haired boy silently nods, then the woman says "yer' a lucky one son. Those things normally go for the kill. I wonder why they just played with you?"

By now Ail is surrounded by many villagers, and all seem to be a little taller and have darker skin than normal, and most of the stronger-looking men have full-grown beards, something the humans at the village Ail knows isn't so common.

Another thing is the dirty looks he's getting from these men and women.

The dense one thinks "_what's with all the hostility?_", then says "um, right. The thing is, I just got here, and I'm not really sure where _here_ is. Can someone-"

A tall and thick-bearded man wearing a tattered cotton shirt abruptly says "this is Gensokyo boy! More precisely, this is _our_ village. Now you will answer _our_ questions. Where did you come from, what's with those clothes, and where did you get that nasty cut and those burns?"

Ail had totally forgotten about the cut on his hip, but now it's too late to think of an excuse so he chuckles as he playfully says "so, Gensokyo huh? Um, well, I come from the outside world, and my clothes are quite common out there. And this cut right here, and these burn marks? Well, I had an accident. Yeah, it was an accident."

The bulky man gets closer and has a threatening look on his face as he stares at the outsider, and right out of the blue he turns around and shouts "he's a youkai! GET HIM!"

In a second, the villagers form a thick fight cloud and one man shouts "don't let it get to the children!"

A woman shouts "rip his damned guts out! Use his head as an example!"

Another man shouts "smash his brains out!"

The shaggy woman shouts "to think we just saved him!"

The bulky man shouts "where did he go?"

Ail is flying several feet above the fight cloud and while looking down on the humans he sighs and says to himself "man, I'm surprisingly good with these escapes, but I still need a bathroom."

He looks to the Hakurei Shrine, which looks more run-down than usual, then says to himself "might as well go over there. That man did say this is Gensokyo, but still... why is it so different than I remember?"

From below him, a woman shouts "he's up there, SHOOT HIM DOWN!", and now Ail finds himself flying through a curtain of white bullets of various sizes as he makes his way to the east.

* * *

The Hakurei Shrine, a lonely, run-down little shrine on top of a tall mountain to the east of Gensokyo.

The large red gates with the sacred rope and holy streamers is in desperate need of a touch-up, as well as the whole shrine itself which is actually one large building in the center of a dirt path, a lonely storage house at the back, an unused training ground, and the lake at the back.

There are massive bushes to both sides of the gate, and Ail has chosen the ones to the right hide behind.

As he looks around the shrine he says to himself "m-maybe... maybe I'm still in Damien's Makai, but wait, the sky is blue so that can't be-"

He opens his eyes wide and chokes on his own tongue upon another unexpected sight.

Walking to the left side of the old donation box, holding to a mug of tea and a tray of cookies, is Reimu Hakurei, only this isn't the same Reimu Ail knows.

Her black hair is so long it reaches down to her ankles, it looks purplish against the light from the sun, and she's wearing a plain red ribbon on her hair, her shrine maiden outfit is a red vest with long white sleeves that are actually attached to the vest, and instead of a skirt the girl is wearing a long pair of red pants, a pair of white socks and plain sandals.

What's more, this Reimu looks smaller and much younger than the one he knows.

As Ail stares at this young maiden he thinks "_holy crap of cow manure spitting Nazrins in a cold beach mountain lake. I'm in..._"

His heart beats hard and fast upon this realization, and after gulping down his heart one more time he smacks his lips and whispers "I'm in the past."

He looks around himself for no particular reason and whispers "good thing I took care of business before getting here, or I'd need a change of pants."

From the porch, the young maiden asks "who's out there? I can hear you whispering!"

Ail rapidly jumps away toward the edge of the mountain and flies down, pressing himself against the mountain rock.

Reimu had indeed approached the bushes he was hiding behind, so Ail is quite glad to have jumped off the mountain when he did.

Still, now that he knows he's at Gensokyo's past, temptation takes the best of him and he thinks "_the past. I'm in the past! Oh, the things I could fix! Ah, maybe I can teach Reimu how to fly now so she doesn't have to rely on Genjii, o-or maybe I can fight Marisa and Mima for Reimu's sake and force them to be friends from the start! No wait... Ail what the HELL are you thinking?_"

He slaps himself several times across the face while saying to himself "Ail, you idiot, you can't interfere with the past. You don't know the damage you could cause! Heck, you might even negate Budou's arrival to your house. No Ail, don't you DARE give in to temptation!"

At that very moment, the sky turns dark, everything turns a bit cold, and now Ail is beginning to feel very sad for no reason.

The boy gasps and whispers "oh no! If I'm not mistaken... this is when Reimu fought that fallen angel!"

After Ail hears Reimu whimper, he decides to look up to see if his theories are correct, and right above the shrine is that dreaded being Reimu still has nightmares about, Sariel, the fallen Angel of Death.

It has long ghostly-white hair that reaches its knees, ghostly blue eyes, six white feathered wings, wears a long light-greyish-blue robe, and holds a odd wand with wiggling tentacles under the tip on its right hand.

Breathing through his mouth and able to see his breath, Ail says to himself "but wait, this doesn't make sense! Reimu fought Sariel at the fallen shrine in Makai! Why is this fallen angel here now? What's going on?"

* * *

As he looks on at Sariel and Reimu from a safe distance, Ail thinks "_maybe my being here already changed history, but how? Oh, what should I do?_"

The young maiden looks up at the Angel of Death and demands "wh-who are you? What do you want with me?"

The fallen angel raises its hands, the wand starts to emanate a wave of energy that makes Ail want to cry, and in an instant young Reimu and the dense boy are trapped in a massive spiraling red and black vortex.

Thinking fast, Ail manages to turn into a brown lizard with yellow spots on its skin and a furry head so that Reimu doesn't see him in his human form, then he feels solid ground under his belly.

He looks to Reimu as she falls on her stomach in front of him with one loud thud, then thinks "_no, this isn't how I was told it happened! Reimu fought all the way to the place! that's what she told me!_"

He and the young Reimu are now inside the outskirts of Makai, on the grounds of a dark and derelict shrine, and before young Reimu even has the chance to get up, Sariel showers her with a rain of white bullets the same size of the maiden.

Reimu screams when she's lifted off the ground, but she lands on her knees and manages to move before being hit by the next wave.

Meanwhile, lizard Ail runs behind the dark shrine, returns to human form, then watches the battle unfold.

Reimu has her gohei on hand and throws her yin-yang orb to the air, but to Ail's surprise it falls back down, threatening to harm Reimu herself.

The maiden uses the gohei to bat the orb toward Sariel, and the actual battle begins.

The young shrine maiden runs left and right and uses her gohei and charms to block Sariels bullets while at the same time she fights with her own yin-yang orb that seems to actually want to harm her.

To the boy this is all levels of unfair, but there is nothing he can do but allow history to unfold before his eyes.

Reimu grunts and screams whenever those bullets explode close to her but she pushes on, and her yin-yang orb is doing its job and is weakening the death angel, even with Sariel doing its best to deflect the orb with an invisible barrier.

The angel intensifies its attack and now sends a powerful shower of bullets of all sizes available toward the somewhat defenseless maiden.

Reimu manages to block a few of the bullets with her gohei, but the ones that explode on the ground near her manage to harm her, and after a quick yelp the maiden shouts "stop! Please stop this! Why are you attacking me like this? Why won't you stop?"

Again, Ail wants nothing more than to jump in and help her, but he knows he can't because doing so will alter the future, so again he steels himself to remain hidden and watch.

Reimu's yin-yang orb reaches the angel's head, startling it to a cease-fire, then Ail calms down, thinking it's all over.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

* * *

Sariel's eyes glow red as it stares at the shrine maiden, and with a swing of its wand, an unfair barrage of bullets fly toward Reimu at the same time as her yin-yang orb is bouncing back to her.

The young shrine maiden whimpers when she looks at the hopeless situation she is in, but even as nervous as she is, she summons enough courage to move and bat her orb back up, but failed to see the clutter of bullets behind said orb and gets blasted several times.

Reimu screams as the bullets break through her clothes and skin and send her flying away from the angel.

Three pools of blood form around her, to the left leg, next to her head and to the right of her ribs, and yet she tries to move again.

Thankfully, Sariel deflected the yin-yang orb and made it loose enough momentum to make it stop, but what comes next tries Ail's last shred of self-restraint.

Reimu screams out in pain then starts to sob and cry.

She falls back to the ground and cries "s-someone. Someone please help me!"

Sariel flies closer to the shrine maiden, apparently enjoying the suffering its put the girl through, and raises its wand at it prepares to finish the job.

Ail now stands next to an almost destroyed dark shrine, its roof blasted away by the death angel's bullets, and watches with despair as he waits for young Reimu to get back up.

Reimu's cries and pleas for help get louder, and as he watches he whispers "come on Reimu, nobody's going to save you. You have to do this yourself. Come on, get up. Grip that gohei tight and get up!"

Reimu's crying gets louder as she tries to get up, and as she does Ail can see how deep her wounds really are.

Sariel is a mere step away from the maiden, it eagerly waves its wand above its head, then its blasted from behind on the head.

It turns around to face the boy with ethereal dragon wings and immediately shoots several bullets from its wand, wings, and hands.

As Ail prepares to engage, he thinks "_history's already been changed, so I guess this is fine! I'll buy Reimu some time and let her deal the final blow!_"

The dragon-winged boy shoots several explosive orange bullets to counter Sariel's own, then shoots several laser beams at the angel's left hand, disabling it in an instant.

The Angel of Death doesn't seem about ready to give up and charges toward Ail while preparing a concentrated attack from its wand.

The soft-hearted boy summons his own sword of light, flies straight toward the angel, smacks it hard on the side of its ribs, then gasps and backs away.

Reimu has recovered, she has her yin-yang ready to attack, bats it hard with the gohei, then strikes Sariel on the back, making it flinch and sing a terribly depressing song as it starts to fall.

Reimu doesn't stop and bounces the orb back on to the fallen angel's back repeatedly until **it** starts to glow.

For a moment, it seems like the angel is already done for, but just before turning to dust, it sends a furious barrage of bullets, laser beams and a single curse.

Reimu screams and covers her face, so Ail takes the chance, and with his weapon of light he cuts down all the bullets headed toward Reimu, then quickly flies away, thinking "_oh dear, Shinki must have felt THAT._"

When the expected pain-fest fails to reach her, young Reimu uncovers her eyes and jumps away from the curse of the death angel, and that's when she notices Ail flying in the sky.

She watches as the ethereal-dragon-winged boy flies away and forgets the pain of her wounds as she looks dearly toward said boy, then sighs with longing and says "th-thank you so much.", and drops on her seat on the ground.

**At present Gensokyo**, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu is showering Tenshi and Youmu with her amulets and needles, and as she delivers more punishment, she cackles and says "YEAH! This is a great way to take out one's stress!"

Youmu screams "that's enough, we give!"

The shrine maiden winds her amulet arm then chokes and stops shooting, drops everything and holds her chest as she feels her heart beat hard once, and that sudden pump sends her head in a spiral and now the maiden falling fifteen feet off the air to the ground.

From below, Luna shouts "REIMU, WAKE UP!", but when the maiden fails to react, the girl shouts louder and runs toward underneath the maiden.

By now the shrine maiden cannot hear anyone, cannot feel anything, and everything before her eyes is black.

* * *

**Back at the past**, Ail exits the gate to Makai, making sure Sara doesn't see him exiting, and while flying toward the Misty Lake, which is actually called "The Scarlet Lake" at this time, he says to himself "well, seeing as history's changed, I should check who else has their past events messed up."

Above him, a spiral of dark-grey clouds form up, but he fails to notice, being so busy thinking about who he can help and saying to himself "but wait... I only know bits of my friends' history. Ayayayaya, I should have read Akyuu's scrolls a little more carefully."

He stops talking to himself when he realizes that even though he's flying he's no longer moving, and he can see some ghouls and fairies stuck in mid air, as well as some youkai on the ground stuck in the middle of an action.

Estranged about this, Ail asks himself "what's this? Did I enter Sakuya's World? Wait, is Sakuya even in Gensokyo yet?"

From within the spiraling clouds, the voice on one familiar, and clearly pissed-off Yama of Paradise makes the world around Ail rumble furiously when she shouts "**YOU RETAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!"**

The boy understandably panics and turns around with a terrorized face, then foolishly asks "S-Shikieiki, is that you?"

Ail can feel as though his body is being twisted and bent to several shapes and forms as he is sucked into the spiraling clouds, and when he's finally gone, the dark clouds vanish to allow a beautiful sun to shrine through, and the world around begins to move once again.

Ail finds himself in a very familiar and dark courtroom and is sitting behind a small wooden desk, and right in front of him are two well-known-to-him girls, Shikieiki Yamaxanadu, the lecturing Yama of Paradise, and Komachi Onozuka, the exceedingly lazy, yet sexy shinigami.

Shikieiki has green hair that looks longer to the left, probably tied to a ponytail under her blue hat, has blue eyes, and her hat is adorned with gold and black plates around it, wears a blue shirt with long white sleeves and two golden and black plates on the shoulders, a black skirt, white socks, black shoes, and has red and white ribbons around her skirt, collar and behind her head.

She also holds a gold and black rod with a pointed edge called The Rod of Remorse, which actually looks like a small sword.

Komachi has fuchsia hair she ties to twin-tails with red bobbles, red eyes, and wears a white dress with a blue vest overtop, an obi belt with a gold coin on the center, a long blue skirt, and a pair of white socks and wooden sandals.

She holds a large scythe that has a wisp-like end on the blade, and both she and Shikieiki look extremely disappointed toward Ail, something that doesn't really help the last bit of confidence left in him to shine.

* * *

In an ominous and dangerously low tone of voice, Shikieiki stares straight into Ail's eyes and says "of all the idiotic, retarded, sort-brained, nine-balled, hair-curling stupidities you could have done. I have a good mind to throw you into Hell right now and let your body burn for a good ten years!"

Knowing only too well what Shikieiki is talking about, the foolish little boy foolishly tries to defend his actions, saying "but... things were different! H-history changed! That fallen angel was going to kill her for real!"

Komachi sighs and face palms while Eiki bends closer to Ail threateningly fast, bangs hard on the desk, then stares right into the boy's soul with glowing light-blue eyes.

As the yama stares straight at him, the dense one paralyzes as he is, then Shikieiki ominously calmly says "Reimu was going to jump away at that very last moment, kick that ball between Sariel's eyes and survive that battle without any assistance!"

Ail shivers and whimpers when he tries to speak, but the yama beats him to it and says "you soft-hearted idiot! A good deed done for selfish reasons is a sin!"

Ail argues "I'm sorry! I thought she was going to die! She wasn't supposed to die there, so I-"

Again, Komachi sighs and face palms and this time even shakes her head.

Shikieiki grabs the boy by his neck, pulls him closer to her, and while striking him across the face with her sword-shaped rod, she shouts "**you. messed. with. history. you. stupid. little. idiot!**"

The yama of paradise keeps her furiously glowing sight on Ail as she commands "Komachi, do it!"

The loyal shinigami nods and replies "will do Eiki-sama!"

While Komachi walks behind Shikieiki's podium at the front of the room, said yama slides her hand down Ail's neck and grips him by the collar of his shirt, pulls him closer, and through clenched teeth she says "if you damaged the fabric of fate because of this, I am going to make it so you never even existed! Pheh! Enlightened... MY ASS!"

The boy can only gulp as he shivers and waits for whatever it is the girls are preparing for him.

He now understands the mistake of his actions and agrees with Shikieiki with a nod.

Calling him an "enlightened" being sounds more and more like one sick joke meant to belittle the meaning of that word.

Depression starts to sink its teeth in his heart as Komachi sets up what looks like a large projection screen, and noticing this, the yama releases him and backs away, though doesn't take her eyes off him.

Once done, Komachi happily exclaims "done~!", then Shikieiki manages to speak calmly, yet her fury can yet be felt as she says "let's see what kind of damage you have done to the timeline."

On the screen appears young Reimu Hakurei, sitting on the porch of the shrine while drinking some tea, yet she looks very shaken, and the cup on her hand almost spills when she shakingly sets it on the floor to her left.

The maiden sighs and looks up to the sky, then says to herself "so weak. I... Why did my mentor leave now? I wasn't ready for this."

In the courtroom, Shikieiki commands "fast-forward to three days", to which Komachi replies "got it."

The image in the projector screen moves rapidly, and after the fourth sunrise the image stops.

Now the young Hakurei maiden is seen leaving the shrine while saying to herself "alright, I'm not gonna leave that forest until I am able to use these stupid orbs and my charms to actually defend myself. I might even be able to learn to fly. Ugh, but that's such a bother. I'll focus on one thing first. I can work on flying later."

She stops halfway down the long stairs, looks up to the sky in silence, smiles and giggles, then says to herself "...maybe."

At that very moment, Shikieiki commands "pause!", then the image stops moving.

The yama stares at the image with great interest, as though overanalyzing every single detail, then she chuckles to herself and finally smiles.

She turns around to Ail with that smile and says "congratulation mister _enlightened idiot_, your meddling didn't screw up the timeline after all. The threads of fate remain as they should... sorta."

A surge of relief covers the boy's entire body in just a second after hearing these words, but even feeling as though the weight of the universe is no longer on his shoulder, that undeserved "enlightened" title still eats away at the back of his mind.

That's when he notices the yama is giving him a sort of ominously evil smile and now a sense of fright is taking over his heart.

Shikieiki bends closer to the boy, and sounding a bit too friendly she says "you might have not messed with the fabrics of history, but you still left your mark. Oh how I am going to enjoy watching you writhe in agony after you see what YOU have done."

Ail gulps, looks to his left and right before retuning his eyes to the yama's then says "um, that didn't sound very nice."

Shikieiki's smile turns even more vile as she backs away from Ail, opens one of her swirling portals behind him, then says "consider this your just punishment for your ridiculously rash actions Anilan! Oh, and that poison coursing through your veins is about to kick in. Good luck going to the bathroom on your own for a while."

After the yama finishes her sentence, Ail starts feeling weak, he seems to choke on his own tongue, and is now being sent down a furious vortex to who-knows-where.

* * *

Midday at the Moriya Shrine at present Gensokyo, Sanae is currently sweeping leaves to distract herself and not think so much of Ail, seeing as she is powerless to do anything for him.

Budou sits to the right of the donation box, holding her chin with both hands while staring forward.

She hasn't said a single word since they got back from the Hakurei Shrine at the crack of dawn, which has Phredia very worried, and said elf fairy tries patting the bat youkai's head and hugging her neck, but Budou refuses to react.

Ayalina is inside the house with Kanako, drinking sake with the goddess, but neither looks cheerful.

Seems like their drinking mostly to pass the time and forget about things, and as the goddess serves the young-looking mother some more sake she twitches, then Ayalina asks "everything alright?"

Kanako smiles and chuckles, then says "oh, it's nothing to worry about dear. Please enjoy."

The goddess' expression turns very serious after she looks away from the youkai mother and telepathically says "_Moriya, did you get that?_"

At the lake behind the shrine, Suwako hides behind a log at the farthest end of the lake.

She sits on the water as she looks down, then looks up and replies "oh yeah, I got them. First he calls for me and asks for help, then he does something THAT stupid."

Kanako telepathically asks "_should we tell Sanae about it?_"

The small blonde goddess springs out of hiding and looks with expectation toward the front of the shrine, and exclaims "only if she asks! Get ready now, they're coming through!"

At the front of the shrine, Sanae approaches Budou and says "please, cheer up. You heard what the gap lady said. Ail will be fine."

A worry-tear drops down Sanae's right eye, betraying her true feeling to the little bat, who sniffles and just looks away.

Phredia flies in front of the shrine maiden's face and points at the tear, then there is a disturbingly loud **vwoosh** behind them at the front of the shrine.

The bat, the maiden and the tiny fairy stare at the open ice-like gap, and in an instant both Yuki and Cirno drop right out of said gap just before it closes.

A fraction of a second afterward, the yama's spiraling grey vortex opens up to the left of where the Icicle Gap opened, then Ail drops from within and lands flat on his back on the hard and unforgiving stone ground.

As soon as he lands Budou excitedly shouts "PAPA AIL! Papa Ail is back!"

Kanako and Ayalina rush out of the house, Suwako rushes from behind the shrine, and after Sanae, Phredia and Budou strangle Ail with a group hug the rest of the girls gather around all, though they seem to be ignoring Yuki and Cirno.

Ayalina drops on her knees and slides toward Ail, tackles Phredia and Sanae away from him, then gives him a bone-crushing hug while exclaiming "my boy! My baby boy is back!"

While the young-looking mother kisses her son's cheeks repeatedly, Suwako approaches the Makaian witch and the ice fairy and asks "hey, are you two alright?"

Before Yuki or Cirno can reply, Ayalina loudly asks "what's that? Sweetie what's the matter. T-tell mama what's wrong?"

Kanako exclaim "Ayalina, Budou, give him some air!"

The two girls release the boy and Ail takes the moment of respite to lift his right hand.

He trembles violently while pushing the rest of the arm up, then groans "Y-Yuki... C-C-C-Cirno... Alright?"

The mentioned girls walk over to the boy and Cirno says "I-I'm here.", and Yuki asks "hey Ail, what's wrong with you? What happened back there?"

Still trembling violently, Ail manages to groan the words "black... s-s-sap... t-touch!"

The fire witch spring on her feet while holding the sides of her head and screams "Aah! I told you not to touch that!"

Sanae looks with despair at Yuki and agitatedly asks "what? What did he touch?"

Yuki looks sternly at Suwako for some reason, then says "black sap from Makaian trees."

Suwako looks down at Ail with pity and says "man, good luck going to the bathroom on your own."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Drake sits next to Medicine as they watch the clutter of people blocking the entrance to the rooms corridor.

Kyo, Shinki, Luna, Mima, Aya, Suika and Youmu and her ghost half stand outside the Hakurei maiden's room, while Marisa, Rika, Suzaku on Rika's shoulder, and Tenshi kneel beside the sleeping maiden in her futon at the center of the room.

Said maiden is wearing a warm white sleeping robe, her ribbons have been removed, and seems to be sleeping very peacefully.

Rika moves herself next to her mistress' head to change the moist towel on her forehead while Suzaku takes the chance to hop to the ground, and when the maid removes said towel Reimu starts to moan softly and move about.

Excited, Rika says "ah, lady Reimu is waking up!"

Marisa sighs with great relief and says "oh, thank the gods."

The shrine maiden moans a bit and before opening her eyes she asks "M-Marisa? Rika? Am... am I alive?"

Expressing their relief, Marisa leans over and embraces Reimu's shoulders while Rika gently rubs her mistress' head, then the witch says "you're alright! Oh man, you really scared us."

Rika gently brushes her mistress' hair as she says "yes my lady, you are alive. But if it wasn't for Tenshi you would have been seriously injured, or worse."

Suzaku gently nips the maiden's fingers and says "_mom, I'm so glad. From the way you fell I though you weren't waking up for at least another day._"

Reimu slowly opens her eyes and looks around, noticing the many worried faces both around her and outside her room, then smiles in such a bright and tender manner, even Rika looks surprised.

From the group outside, Mima says "alright everybody, the girl's fine! Let's give her a moment to recover herself."

Reimu can hear her friends from outside speaking amongst themselves, Aya saying "oh man, that was a little scary."

Youmu replies "she just collapsed, just like that."

Shinki says "I guess I can give my report later."

Kyo sighs and loudly says "come out of Makai to find her like that was pretty scary."

From the living room Medicine asks "so she's going to be alright?"

Luna replies "yeah, she's going to be fine."

Suika says "alright mister, just wait a little longer. She'll be out soon."

After everyone else is away, still looking around with bright and lively eyes, Reimu asks "so what exactly happened? All I can remember is my heart feeling like it was about to explode and people screaming."

Like reliving a very bad memory, Marisa twitches as she says "I came here just as Tenshi caught you before your head hit the ground."

Rika sighs and says "my lady, maybe you should consider going to see miss Eirin about your heart."

Reimu slowly sits up, looks around the room, then points at Tenshi and says "wow, she's really out."

The celestial fell asleep while kneeling, and her face suggests she needs this rest very badly, so Rika is already rolling out a futon next to Reimu's and is helping her friend slip on top of the futon.

While the shrine maid removes her friend's boots, she says "she doesn't want to admit it, but she got really scared when you fell."

Reimu giggles toward her maid and the celestial, then looks at Marisa and excitedly says "Marisa, I had a dream about him!"

The black and white rolls her eyes and says "oi~! No wonder you look so happy, daze."

After placing Tenshi's hat and boots beside her friend, Rika asks "_him,_ my lady? May I ask whom do you speak off?"

Marisa coldly answers "when she fought Sariel, this crazy little maiden though she saw a boy with wings made of crystal. She also thinks this boy saved her ass from getting killed."

The shrine maid looks infinitely confused toward Reimu and says "my lady, are you sure? Y-you never told me anything about that."

Reimu giggles and Marisa replies "ahh, it's just some old story. It's been some time since she told me that, but I still think that angel hit her head too hard that day."

The shrine maiden giggles once more and says "well I'm sure he was real, and I think he's looking for me too. I could see him so clearly in the dream. Ahh, he called for me and extended his arm to me, and then... we held each other for a while."

Disappointed, Marisa asks "is that it?"

Reimu nods and says "more than enough for me."

The black witch sighs then casually says "you're so simple. I'd have totally raped him."

A yin-yang orb flies straight on top of the witch's head, leaving her stammering on her own on the ground, then from Reimu's right Aya asks "well, she had that one coming. So tell me more of this mysterious young boy. Who could be so lucky as to have claimed this fair maiden's heart? Are you going to have children soon? Think your breasts will grow once you become a woman?"

Reimu stares rather casually at Aya, who is suddenly assaulted by Reimu's magically-enhanced broom and Suzaku, and while the broom slams the crow tengu's butt right out of the room, the vermillion bird pecks her head hard and without mercy.

Said crow tengu screams as she runs away from the shrine, and all Rika says to all of this is "maybe I should make some soup for lunch."

* * *

A little later, Reimu, still dressed in sleep robes and missing her ribbons, walks to the living room, more specifically, goes over to address to Drake.

She holds both hands inside her robe's sleeves, making herself look more like a sage than usual, and after admiring her the foreigner says "you should wear more robes my lady. They are befitting for someone like you."

The shrine maiden smiles, suppresses yet another giggle from escaping her, the bows and says "I must apologize to have wasted your time Drake."

She straightens up and now bares a more straight face as she says "I asked you to come here because I wanted to seal your powers into spell cards, but all my preparations went down the drain, so to speak."

The boy looks calm about this, and equally calm he replies "it's fine. It so happens I was aware of this, especially after reading through miss Akyuu's records."

Reimu sighs, somehow feeling some relief from hearing that, then takes her hands out of her sleeves and says "then you understand why I must ask you to hand over your sword."

There is a moment of silence between the two, and the few people around start feeling a bit tense, but they are all suddenly surprised.

Drake reaches for the sheath and pulls it off as though it was stuck with velcro on his back, then calmly hands it over to Reimu and says "here. I'm sure this will be safe in your care."

The maiden accommodates the blade against her shoulder and bows her head, then says "I am grateful for your cooperation on this matter."

She turns around, probably to store the sword somewhere, then stops when Drake says "if it's alright with you, I would like to visit that temple near the village. The one for both youkai and humans."

Reimu turns her head to the left and asks "Kyo, Luna, Medicine, can you accompany him there?"

Kyo and Luna look at each other, then both look at Medicine and Su-San, then the boy turns to Reimu and says "sure. I haven't gone visit Ichirin for a while so it's a good chance as any."

Drake nods and says "much appreciated miss Reimu."

The shrine maiden walks over to her room and replies "thank those three. Seems more proper to me. Oh, and Kyo..."

She stops and turns around to face the boy before entering the corridor, then says "don't pick on the new girl please."

Kyo chuckles mischievously and replies "oh come on, I was just playing around last time."

Luna chuckles nervously then says "last time you made her cry."

Medicine snickers and says "score one more for the lummox points."

A quick fist falls right on top of the puppet youkai's head and after she sobs Luna grabs Kyo by the neck and says "last warning honey. Next time I'll kick."

Though chocking, Kyo manages to smile and reply "sure thing honey."

Drake looks at Suzaku to his right and asks "you think I'd be safer on my own?"

The red bird tweets then says "_it's the same either way._"

A drop of sweat rolls down the left of Drake's head as he replies "wow, so blunt."

Meanwhile, after Reimu stores Drake's sword inside a special spot inside her closet, she looks to the floor and says "come on Marisa, I didn't hit you that hard. Get up."

Marisa stretches a bit, opens her hands like a cat to stretch her fingers, then says "mmm~ but it's so comfy, and it smells just like Reimu."

The shrine maiden rolls her eyes and sighs, bends down, grabs her friend by the back of her shirt, then effortlessly picks her up and carries her away while the witch chuckles.

To all of this the sleeping celestial remains undisturbed, smiling contently while sleeping and mumbling "Rika's peaches."

* * *

Once back out in the living room the maiden tosses the witch on the floor and looks around, but fails to see Drake, Kyo, Luna or Medicine.

She blinks once then casually says "hmph, so impatient. They left already."

Shinki approaches Reimu and gives the maiden a stern look, to which the girl asks "Shinki, what happened? You couldn't get them out?"

Trying to hide her shame, the goddess of Makai looks away and says "I-I'm sorry Reimu. Someone was going to kill my girl and I-I didn't think. I just acted, and ended up using my only way to bring them back."

Reimu looks calmly at the goddess, smiles lightly, then says "but they are no longer there, or you wouldn't be here."

Shinki bows and says "I was still a bit surprised when mister Kyo went looking for me."

She quickly sighs, then continues "I don't really understand what happened, but the ice fairy broke out of some crystal, then Ail went straight to her, they opened an icicle sukima, then they were all sucked in, just like that."

Reimu continues staring at the goddess, her light smile turning to a straight look, then says "so they are out of there, but you have no idea where they are, right?"

Shinki looks distressed toward the shrine maiden and says "no, I think they are coming back home, th-the problem is that Damien shot the sukima with a curse, and it went in. And from what Rika tells me, your magical circle reacted to that curse."

Reimu snaps her fingers and exclaims "so that's why it activated on its own. But that's great! It means those three idiots are back home, right?"

Shinki shakes her head and says "I'm not sure. The curse was meant to slow down their progress, so it might be days before they exit that void."

The shrine maiden sighs, wraps an arm around Shinki's neck, and as they walk outside, she says "Shinki listen, that magical circle we drew last night was quite powerful. Powerful enough to seal even you inside a three centimeter cube. Your girl, the fairy, AND the dense one will all be back before you know it."

Hearing this from Reimu makes the Makaian goddess smile, and getting this reaction, the maiden smiles back and continues "now come on. Let's take a dip in the hot springs and relax for a bit. I'm sure we'll have our hands full when we get news of those idiots."

* * *

Ail stands in the center of pure darkness, and although the world he is in is just black and nothing else, he is clearly visible as he stands in place while looking around. He sighs and asks "so where am I now? I swear I thought I was back at the Moriya Shrine. Maybe I dreamed it?"

A girl suddenly appears hopping to his right, and when she sees him she starts to hop all around him.

This girl has short greyish-blue hair, greyish-blue eyes, pale skin, has a red and white paper seal on her forehead, and wears a blue hat with a star on the center, a red shirt with blue flower buttons and tears by the hips, a black skirt over a pink underskirt that's visible through a large tear on the overskirt, and a pair of black shoes.

She keeps her arms lifted in front of herself and as she hops around the boy she moves them slightly up and down as though driving an invisible jumping car.

A bead of sweat rolls down Ail's forehead as he stares at the girl, then asks "um, excuse miss? Er, where are we?"

The girl stops, stares at the boy, smiles, then says "I don't know. I just got here. I think I am sleeping."

The dense boy raises an eyebrow and replies "okay... Um, so then I guess we'll just go ahead and skip to the introductions. Ahem, my name is Anilan, though I prefer to be called Ail."

The girl starts jumping around the boy again as she replies "Ail huh? I hope I don't forget it. My brain's a little rotten, so I... wait, who am I?"

The girl stops jumping, turns her neck to the boy with some difficulty, smiles, then exclaims "hi Ail! My name is Yoshika. Miyako Yoshika. But you can call me... umm~ Yoshika."

Yoshika Miyako, the stiff and hungry jumping bean, starts jumping around Ail, who asks "wait, what do you mean your brain is rotten?"

The girl happily replies "oh, I'm a Jiang shi, and I'm already dead, though I do take good care of my skin so I don't totally rot. Maybe that's why I... oh hello, how are you? Say, you wouldn't happen to have some food with you, would you?"

Trying to recalibrate his brain after that sudden change of subject, Ail stares at the girl for a moment, then finally replies "um... a Jiang shi, right? Er, sorry, I got nothing on me right now."

The girls stops jumping again, faces the boy, then smiles as she says "oh, so you knew I was a Jiang shi. That's good! I hope I get your smarts mister Ail!"

With that, she opens her smiling mouth and jumps on the boy.

* * *

Ail wakes up on a futon inside Sanae's room, and around him are his mother, his girlfriend, his adopted youkai daughter, a tiny elf fairy, the crazy Makaian fire witch, and one adorable and cocky ice fairy.

He can feel himself smiling, though he's doing so with great effort.

Sanae manages a weak smile and says "lady Moriya, lady Yasaka, he's awake!"

Joining the circle of girls are a well-endowed mother-looking goddess, and a childlike blonde goddess.

The boy can't help but smile some more, then he feels his eyes getting heavy so he closes them again while keeping his smile.

Budou exclaims "ah, papa's going to sleep again! Wake up papa Ail!"

Ayalina shushes the girl and says "it's alright, he's just tired."

Kanako nods and says "that's right. He's lucky he's a half-youkai or-"

Suwako smacks the back of the goddess' head and whispers angrily into her ear "shut it you air-head."

Yuki sighs, stands up, then says "sorry, but it's about time I went back home."

The shrine maiden seems to take this as a personal offense, evident on her annoyed tone of voice as she says "now hold on! You're not just going to leave like this, are you? Yasaka-sama say something."

Kero-chan goddess is the one that speaks sternly at the maiden, saying "Sanae she has no ties to this. Be grateful she was kind enough to tell us about the tree sap."

While the girls bicker, Cirno stares quietly at the boy and remembers how he did his best to protect her while in that world.

She can see him clearly in her mind, remembering when she was so desperate as she felt death creeping its arms around her.

She can remember how relieved and how peaceful she felt inside that crystal Ail encased her in, and then remembers being taken by Damien, and how Ail furiously demanded her safe return.

She returns from her memories and can hear the girls bicker some more outside the room, then notices Phredia and Budou to her right.

The bat youkai notices the saddened look on the fairy's face and asks "are you alright smart-sis?"

Phredia and Budou both give Cirno a look of concern, but the ice fairy manages a proud smile and says "I... Er, I owe a bit to Ail so I'm going to stay and help him get better. Umm, if that's ok with you."

The bat and elf-fairy smile and nod, then Ayalina starts scratching Cirno's head as she smiles and says "sure, you can help. Just make sure to stay out of trouble. Now tell me, what does my boy mean to you?"

The ice fairy, the elf fairy and the bat youkai all stare at the girl with a raised eyebrow each, then the young-looking mother giggles and says "my, I never thought my boy was into lolis, but you are very cute so I can't really blame him."

From the living room, Sanae furiously shouts "Oi! You perverted woman, you quit that already!"

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Ayalina, Spee, Girlie, Akaizo, the blue-haired woman, Drake, and Damien's Makai were created by Willie G.R.

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Damien was created by Hydroviper

MAY 14 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Holy cows, I just wrote this whole thing in, what... three days? Man, I LOVE it when my muse is on overdrive. What did you think about that short, but sweet trip to the past of Gensokyo? And what did you think of that cute Jiang shi's cameo? C'mon, I know you liked it, and I'm sure you're going to love it when I get Kyo to torture that "new girl" over at the Myouren Temple. I guess those of us that have played the Ten Desires demo know what I'm talking about. Those that haven't, well you might like it none-the-less. This chapter was HUGE, and I still had some things I wanted to add, BUT if I did, it would have gotten too long. Oh well, I guess I'll be telling what happened to Toyohime when she was forcefully returned to Eintei, AND what happened with Patchouli, Koakuma and the Kori twins while these other events in this chapter transpired (MAYBE). See you next chapter, ze.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Took some liberties again. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**Six hours before Reimu's collapse.**

Welcome to Eintei, a large Japanese mansion hidden deep within the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, and it's even surrounded by a thin white wall.

Its front yard is bare, save for a single tree to the far left corner nearing the outer wall.

This tree doesn't seem to fit the bamboo shoot atmosphere, but it's there, probably another experiment of Eirin's.

All the way across the plain long front yard is the mansion, which has white walls, and the top of the roof is smoothed light-colored and weather-treated wood plates over the dark-brown tiles; the edges are spared of the wooden over-cover to keep a look of elegance, and at the front, to the right side of the house, hanging from the ceiling is a single wind chime that plays its song with the slightest breeze.

Inside, the center of the guest room and foyer has a large-but-short square table with an ornamental mantel on top, and is surrounded by a few elegant brown cushions with gold buttons and borders.

To the left is the eternal corridor leading to the many rooms of the mansions, including the bathrooms.

It has become a rule to always make your trip to the toilet room at least five minutes before going critical or it can get messy before you can even reach it, let alone find it, though this rule does apply more to guests rather than those that live there, whom already know where it is.

Take note that the many youkai rabbits prefer the outside to take care of business.

At the center of the mansion, surrounded by one elegant and well-polished porch, is the garden, which is full of incredibly beautiful flowers that never seem to wilt, though this is all thanks to Kaguya's manipulation of eternity.

The outer areas of the mansion are surrounded by more elegant corridors, better known as roka.

Back outside the mansion, to the right of the front yard is Eirin's clinic that people queue for, though it's still very early in the morning and there aren't any lines in front of the light-pastel orange door with the semi-translucent glass on the front of said building.

The building itself is quite large, and seems to have been expanded recently.

Though the walls seem to have been weather-treated, they haven't really been painted, making this clinic look rather boring and unorthodox.

The roof is a little flat, the tiles on it are dark greenish-blue, and unlike the mansion's own roof, this one lacks much elegance and looks a little plain.

Above the front door to the clinic is a large sign that reads "Eirin's Clinic and Laboratory", something that seems to have been recently added.

Another thing that seems to has been recently added is a dark box the keeps making a very odd buzzing sound.

It is an actual air conditioner, and it's been set at the newly-added rooms, and if you're wondering how it's being powered up, it's using a small crystal on it's back that recharges with sunlight and raindrops, another marvelous discovery by Kappa Tech.

Inside the clinic, there is the expanded waiting room with a couple of hard-looking bamboo chairs set on each side of the room.

There is a long red ornamental carpet at the center of the room, and at the end of said room is the reception desk.

The door to the right of the desk has a drawn sign that reads "Drug Room", and the one to the left is just a plain wooden door without signs.

That door leads to the new expansion, where the cool air of the air conditioner makes it feel like a comfortable refrigerator.

There are at least six doors to the left of that cool corridor, and the last one has a danger sign that reads "Eirin's Lab. No Entry without permission, **or punishment will be dispensed**".

The last four words are written in blood red.

* * *

The sun is just rising when Eirin Yagokoro, the rather attractive genius pharmacist from the Moon, walks out of the front door of the mansion and takes a deep breath.

She has very long silver hair made into a large braid at the back, dark-grey eyes, and wears a nurse cap that's half red and half dark-blue, and wears an elegant nurse's dress the same color-scheme as her hat, though the torso has the red to the right and the blue to the left, and the skirt has them reversed, though all share constellation motifs all around, and wears a pair of black slip-on shoes.

Reisen walks out of the mansion after her master and says "good morning Master. Did you sleep well?"

Eirin turns her neck and nods with a cheery smile, then turns around all the way, bows her body, then says "good morning princess. You are looking as radiant as ever."

Reisen looks inside and after an obviously surprised gasp she bows and exclaims "princess Kaguya! Good morning!"

Kaguya Houraisan, the eternal ex-princess of the moon, has very long black hair that reaches below her waist, dark brown eyes, and wears a long-sleeved pink shirt with many white ribbons on the center, including one large white ribbon on the collar, and a very long dark-burgundy skirt decorated with many gold colored flowers and a white frill on the bottom.

She elegantly bows her head and greets "good morning Eirin, Udongue. Is breakfast ready yet?"

A nervous chuckle and a drop of sweat escape the moon rabbit, then she bows as she thinks "_oh crap, I forgot about breakfast_", then rapidly says "I'll make breakfast immediately my princess!"

As soon as Reisen enters the room there is a loud clatter of pots and pans along the moon rabbit's screams, then Tewi walks out from hiding under the porch with a satisfied look on her face and says "ah, what a good morning this is."

Tewi Inaba, the pranking terror of Eintei, has shoulder-length black hair, two white and fluffy rabbit ears on her head, a white and fluffy rabbit tail, dark-red eyes, and wears a frilly pink nightgown, a necklace with a carrot, and a pair of puffy pink socks.

Completely ignoring Reisen, Kaguya walks over to the table and sits next to it, and is quickly followed by Tewi, who jumps on her princess' lap so that the girl may pet her.

Eirin sighs as she places her hand on the right of her face, then enters the mansion to help Reisen up while saying "one day these pranks are going to get you in trouble."

Tewi casually replies "they already have."

After helping the sexy bunny up, the pharmacist turns around to say something to the youkai rabbit, and that's when she notices two well-known angels holding one sorry-looking Toyohime by her arms.

From the corridor to the rooms Yorihime exclaims "sis, where the hell have you been?"

In a very stern tone Spee says "in heaven ma'am. She was found raiding the peach gardens, and consumed seventy-eight peaches in the course of one night."

Girlie giggles and playfully says "she's a peach hog!"

The blond angel looks at her giggly partner and says "I believe the eldest daughter called her a _peach __**shark**_, not _peach __**hog**_."

Eirin walks out of the mansion to accept the whimpering woman and says "does is really matter? She's going to get punished either way."

Yorihime walks out with several beads of sweat rolling down the back of her head as she nervously says "oh boy, this is gonna get ugly. Toyohime, what the hell is the matter with you!"

Being carried off on Eirin's shoulder, the sandy-blonde girl looks at her light-blue haired younger sister and whimpers "Yorihime, save me!"

While the pharmacist carries the woman to the clinic, the stern Lunarian shakes her head and bluntly replies "sorry sis, but I'm with Eirin on this one. You have to be punished."

A long whimper escapes Toyohime just before Eirin closes the door of her clinic, then Girlie exclaims excitedly "come one Spee, I wanna see!"

The blonde angel with the white straw hat with eyes looks in disbelief at her partner and asks "are you really, _really_ sure you're an angel?"

Yorihime sighs and says "better make sure miss Eirin doesn't overdo it", and as her left foot touches the ground in front of the porch the girl shrieks as she falls into a pitfall.

Spee looks shocked and amazed, Girlie giggles uncontrollably, and Kaguya stares at Tewi, who jumps off the princess and casually says "it's not my fault she doesn't look where she's going."

The long-haired princess opens her mouth and a gold washtub falls on her head, knocking her out and making her head bang hard against the table before the girl falls sprawled on the floor.

Udongein shrieks after the event, then panics as she runs around in a circle while nervously saying "oh no, Master's going to kill me! I gotta hide! I'll hide the body! Auu~ but she's gonna find ouuuuut!"

Girlie flies down to Tewi, looks at her straight in the eyes, then asks "can I live with you?", shocking Spee as expected.

* * *

**Right after Reimu collapses, and just before the three stooges return from Mirror Makai.**

At the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library, Patchouli and Koakuma work diligently on yet another experiment.

Although the red-haired little demon is there in body... sexy, sexy body, her mind seems to be elsewhere, yet she's following her mistress' commands perfectly.

The purple-haired magician finishes drawing a magical circle around a large black cauldron that has gold pentagram drawn on it. She looks at Koakuma and commands "bring me my book. I need to-"

Before Patchouli finishes her sentence, the little demon has gone, picked up a small red book from the nearby desk, and has handed it over to the surprised magician.

The purple-haired girl stares at her red-haired assistant and says "well, that was fast. Are you feeling alright Koa?"

The little demon doesn't answer, and it's obvious her mind is completely elsewhere, but the magician doesn't seem to mind.

Patchouli shrugs as she looks through her book and says to herself "well, whatever. As long as you're doing your job for once."

She slams the book to a close, smiles and says to herself "it's done", then summons a raincloud that pours dark water into the cauldron, adds a red liquid from a beaker she pulls from under her right sleeve, a misty green liquid from a vial on the desk, and a strand of hair from her lovely assistant, whom doesn't seem to feel it being yanked off.

The second that strand of hair falls into the cauldron, the golden pentagram glows and the liquid inside turns into a snowy-like substance.

With malice in her celebrating voice, Patchouli exclaims "yes~, YEESSS~! Just a little more and we can send those creeps back to the source!"

Seemingly uninterested, Koakuma fiddles with her hair while looking toward a particular bookshelf and in a monotone tone says "um, sure lady Patchouli. That's great."

The magician starts breathing through her mouth out of sheer excitement, then chuckles and says to herself "now all I need is to get them to dive in and I can activate the magical circle, and then it's '_GOODBYE Leon and Lina_'!"

From the magician's left, Lina observantly says "hmm, that's very good miss Patchouli, but I believe that rune next to that holy sketch is out of place."

Before the magician can react, from her right, Leon sighs and says "no, no, no, it's fine as it is, sis. It's that pentagram that needs a touch-up or the magical shockwave will level the entire library, not to mention that it will cut all the books in half."

The Kori boy walks over to Koakuma, rummages through her left pocket; the little demon doesn't even seem to notice; then take a brush with what looks like gradient lilac and orange paint on the tip.

Patchouli furiously demands "what the hell are you two imps doing? Get in the damned pot and stop messing around with me! And the runes and the pentagram are FINE!"

Leon casually replies "no, no, my love, please, it's all in this book. If that star isn't sealed inside a strong circle, it's going to channel your magical core, which it's impressive I must add, and totally wreck this whole place!"

The boy hands over a black book that coincidentally happens to have a pentagram painted in gold on the cover, and Patchouli furiously goes through the book while Lina applies a perfect and thick golden circle around the pentagram.

As soon as she finds the page Leon was talking about, the purple girl twitches, paralyzes, lets the book slide from her hands, and just stares forward with a pale and blue face and her mouth left wide open.

The Kori twins jumps inside the cauldron, giggle as the semi-liquid snow inside soaks them, then Leon sighs contently and says "if we only had some hydrogen, it would make this snow and the spell smoother, and maybe even a little cooler."

Impressed, Lina says "wow nii-san, you sure know a lot!"

Smiling proudly, the boy replies "nee-chan, it's not me. I've been reading my love's notes and books. It's her you should be praising, she's a GENIUS!"

The girl giggle and says "you sure know how to pick 'em. Not that my pet is a bad choice. Not at all. She's sexy and can be a hard worker... when she wants to be."

Patchouli thinks over and over about the hydrogen comment, completely ignoring the current conversation, and after something inside her mind tings, she whispers to herself "he... he's right. Th-the star, the hydrogen the... he's so right."

The twins look at the magician with crystalline eyes and Leon asks "so when are you starting the experiment, my love?"

Patchouli stares and stares some more, then smacks herself hard on the cheeks and shouts "NOOOO! WHY NOW~?"

She furiously wipes the whole magical circle around the cauldron while repeating "mukyuu, mukyu-mukyu, _MUKYUUN_~!", and as soon as she's done with the circle she screams and lifts the cauldron with the twins with great effort, screams, then the weight of the cauldron beat hers and falls on top of her, making a very disturbing crushing sound.

Leon screams and jumps out of the cauldron, then shouts "nee-chan, get this thing off her back! She could really die!"

In an instant, Lina is out of the concoction and is lifting the cauldron over her head with ease, then places it away from Patchouli to the left.

Leon shouts "someone channel me some energy!"

Koakuma snaps her fingers and exclaims "I GOT IT! I know how to beat them!", then rushes toward the farthest end of the library.

The twins look surprised, but they have an emergency now and can't stay staring at the little devil.

Lina jumps behind Leon, places her hands on his shoulders, and using his sister's magic he places his hands on Patchouli's crushed back and in just five seconds she's completely recovered and coughing while breathing in some fresh air.

After the magician turns around the twins stop the spell and help her remain sitting up, then she looks at them and out of breath says "you... are so... annoying."

From somewhere in the library, Flandre giggles and exclaims "kiss, KISS! They earned it!"

* * *

**A few moments before Reimu and Shinki enter the hot springs.**

Drake, accompanied by Kyo, Luna, and Medicine, arrives at the Myouren Temple, a relatively quiet place, though it's still morning, which could be the possible explanation for this peace.

The temple grounds are surrounded by a long wooden wall that's a little narrower on the large front yard, which still has room for at least two houses.

Nothing much can be said about this front yard, other than it has a long grey brick road that leads to the large temple, and that along the way there are a few supposed-to-be flowerbeds to the sides that are in desperate need of water, nourishment, and some weeding.

As Kyo stares at the flowers he says "jeez, Ichirin should take some pointers form Yuka, seriously."

A little further ahead, the outer wall seems to enter into the grounds to make a large gateway, and behind that bit of wall hides one adorable youkai girl.

She has short dark-teal hair, a pair of large brown ears, dark-teal eyes, and wears a long pink long-sleeved shirt with teal flower buttons, a white shirt and skirt underneath, and a pair of socks and black shoes.

Kyouko Kasodani, the cute little parrot-like yamabiko, presses her back against the wall as hard as she can while thinking "_it's that human again! If I stay quiet he might not see me._"

Kyo stands right behind the girl behind the wall, covers his mouth to suppress a chuckle, takes a deep breath, then loudly says "my name is pettan-lemur!"

Kyouko instinctively jumps out of hiding, and while she shouts, her ears seem to vibrate along with her voice "MY NAME IS PETTAN-LEMUR~!"

When she realizes her mistake she sighs, face-palms and says to herself "dammit, I couldn't help myself."

The boy smiles as he places a hand on the yamabiko's shoulder and asks "Kyouko-chan, how are ya? Say, where's everyone? Are they still having that pirate game?"

The poor girl hesitates but decides to answer after another long sigh "I don't know what you're talking about. They're inside the temple, as usual."

Right after she finishes, Kyo loudly says "you have the captain's panties", and Kyouko immediately shouts "have the captains panties!"

She whimpers "nooo~! Stop that!"

Annoyed, Luna glares at Kyo and says "cut the crap! What will Drake think of you?"

Behind her, Drake looks at Medicine and casually asks "is he always this childish?"

Medicine groans while Su-San shakes her head in disappointment, then says "god-boy, you have no idea."

Kyo furiously shouts "HEY! I heard that!", to which Kyouko repeats "HEY, I heart that!"

The boy looks with annoyance at the yamabiko youkai, making her lower her ears, clench her little fists under her longs sleeves, whimper, and look up at him with saddened glassy eyes.

He smiles mischievously, takes a deep breath, but keeps it in as he waits for the little girl to calm down.

Kyouko slowly calms down after Kyo exhales without shouting anything, then lets out a puff of air as she says "whew, I thought you were going-"

Kyo shouts "I LIKE BUTT-SNIFFING!" and Kyouko automatically repeats "I LIKE BUTT-SNIFFING~!"

With tears in her eyes she moves her head left and right while whimpering "no~ I don't!"

A shadow summersaults from above the bit of wall and lands next to Kyo, and now said boy is screaming in pain at the same time as he's laughing after Byakuren Hijiri, the beautiful saint and head of the temple, holds his left ear between her fingers.

She has long wavy gradient light-brown and purple hair, hazel light-brown eyes, and wears a long-sleeved black jacket that's cross-laced on the front, a white turtle-neck dress underneath, a black cape that's red underneath, knee-high black boots, and has white laces crossing around her calves and forearms.

With a dear and heart-melting smile on her face, the magician asks "Kaizo Yumeda, good morning to you. You wouldn't happen to be picking on dear Kyouko again, would you?"

Though in pain, the boy manages to chuckle as he bluntly replies "as a matter of fact I am. And it's Kyo, **old lady**."

Kyouko rapidly repeats "old lady!", then cries "kyah~! I'm so sorry Hijiri-san!"

Though she smiles, a small vein pulsates on Byakuren's forehead, and after kicking Kyo on the left knee the boy finds himself being spun around in the air while being held by the ear, then is quickly slammed hard on the ground on his back.

The smiling Buddhist sighs with satisfaction after Kyo groans, then she invites everyone else inside, saying "please excuse the mess. Come, I was waiting for you."

Before following after the girls, Drake stops by Kyo, bends his knees to get a better and uninterested look, then calmly says "you didn't learn you lesson it seems."

The insane boy smiles though in pain and replies "I've only just begun."

* * *

**And we finally reach the present.**

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu, Marisa, Shinki, Suika, Youmu, Mima, and one seemingly reluctant Rika, enjoy a soak in the hot springs.

Suzaku perches on a rock next to her master Rika and keeps her feathers puffed up to allow the steam of the water to graze her skin.

As mentioned before, the shrine maid doesn't seem too thrilled about it.

Maybe it's because she's resting when she should be serving food and drinks, or maybe it's because she and everyone else is naked, and while Suika and Youmu can manage to sink themselves all the way inside the water, the rest of the girls can only sink down to their collarbones, and to Rika this is enough to cause her much discomfort, especially when her cleavage keeps showing.

Defending her case, the shrine maid says "but w-what if mister Ail-nii decides to visit!"

Thinking of an embarrassing scene with said boy arriving at the shrine and finding all the girls in such vulnerable states makes Rika cover her severely blushing face and flap her wings hard while she squeals and splashes some water at the other girls.

She is lucky this causes some steam because when she does this she accidentally stands up high enough to show off her assets.

When she realizes what she's done, the shrine maid bows and exclaims "oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!", then quickly sits back down.

She looks up to the girls and can see all but Reimu smiling with beet-red faces, breathing hard through their mouths and bleeding through their noses while staring at her.

She screams and exclaims "what's wrong with you? Oh no, we need to get a doctor!"

Shinki is the only one able to recover well enough to flap her hand in the water, rising dangerously and almost popping her chest out on plain view, and calmly say "ara, no worries dear, we are all peachy. Isn't that right Reimu? ...Reimu?"

Ignoring that her cleavage is now showing, Shinki leans closer to the maiden and shoves her shoulder while asking "Reimu, are you sure you're alright? Hey, are you even listening?"

As if having heard Shinki for the first time Reimu looks with a bit of curiosity and asks "um, what? Why is everyone so hor-er, I mean happy?"

Like magic, everyone recovers, and even Rika turns her full attention to Reimu, then Marisa says "oh boy, there she goes again!"

Mima giggles, her ample bosom causes the water to ripple violently, and she playfully says "she's dreaming of that boy again. I wonder what ARE you doing to him in that mind of yours."

Marisa, Youmu and Suika stare at the big girls and are now hiding their chests underwater as discretely as they can, though nobody is really paying any attention to them.

The shrine maiden smiles very casually and calmly replies "holding him tight and making sure he doesn't go flying off again."

All the girls, even the embarrassed small ones, look endeared toward this thought save for Shinki, who bites her lower lip while nervously looking around and thinking "_oh shit, I thought she forgot about that. Man that Ail can be a stupid handful sometimes._"

Suzaku telepathically replies "_I agree. His meddling caused a minor, but rather bothersome disruption. What should we do?_"

Shinki mentally replies "_you know we can't interfere. Whatever happens, all we can do is give the best advise we can._"

Suzaku nods, lets out a musical squawk, then flies away to the shrine, thinking "_well, at least Rika will have one less weirdo after her cute little behind._"

Shinki mentally-angrily replies "_I heard that miss vermilion bird._"

Suzaku lets out a quick buck as her personal reply to that.

* * *

Inside a dark world, far away from soaking cleavages and soft skins, Ail finds himself wondering if he's really dreaming or just shifting through levels of consciousness.

Regardless, now that he's in there again he realizes he can move freely, and he can't feel a single effect from the poison in his bloodstream either.

Just as he decides to start moving around for mere amusement, he notices he is being stared at by a smiling maid-like girl.

She giggles, waves at him with her gloved right hand and says "hello."

With his eyes, Ail looks to his left, then his right, then waves back at the girl.

She has blonde hair that reaches her shoulder blades, yellow eyes, and wears a wide-brim hat with a red ribbon, a blue maid's uniform with puffy sleeves and a white frilly apron on top, a pair of long white elbow gloves, and a pair of black slip-on shoes.

Ail blinks twice after a long staring contest with the woman and asks "you're not miss Yoshika, right?"

The woman chuckles, smacks the boy on the head, then playfully says "no silly. My name is Kana Anaberal, pleased to meet you mister."

The dense one bows and hesitantly says "um... Ail. My name is Ail, miss Kana."

The girl flies over the boy's head and asks "say Ail, I need someone fun to scare, and the umbrella from the temple said you were a scaredy-cat. Was she telling me the truth? Can I scare you while you dream?"

The incredibly dense boy stupidly replies "no, she was telling you the truth.", and when he sees the happy face on the blonde he immediately says "b-but as easily scared as I am I am also very dangerous, so no you cannot scare me."

She aws in disappointment and asks "why not?"

Ail groans and says "I am very strong, and if you scare me too much, I will attack you."

The woman sounds annoyed as she says "sorry but I don't believe you. Mister Ail, you and I are going to be seeing each other- What are you doing?"

Ail stares forward with a neutral face as he opens his left hand, summons a very bright but small orb of light, then lets it drop on what he assumes is the ground, where it plops like a water droplet.

Kana stares at Ail and asks "and what was that for?"

The boy just smiles and says "I warned you."

A massive eight-story dragon made of pure light appears behind Ail and roars furiously, scaring away the woman, who cries "kyah~~ I'm sorry, I'm SORRY! I won't bother you again!"

The boy smiles, then the dark room slowly turns bright, signaling it's time for him to wake up.

* * *

Ail wakes up feeling as though his head is elevated and there's something soft and warm on his forehead.

As he slowly opens his eyes he feels like he's trying to lift lead with his eyelids. Not just that, but his entire body feels like he has an elephant sitting on him at the very same time he's being slowly cooked while being slapped with ice cubes all over.

He finally opens his eyes, waits for them to adjust, and quickly discovers why he feels his head in an odd position.

Sanae took the liberty of resting his head on her lap and fell asleep while combing his hair with her fingers, leaving her hand on his forehead and her ample assets just above his head.

He mentally curses that she's not leaning a little more but decides to stop this lewd though right where it is.

Budou sleeps while holding his right arm tight and expecting to see Cirno on his left arm he turns his head with great effort, but she isn't there.

That cold sensation is the poison after all.

All seems as fine as it will ever be so the boy thinks of going back to sleep, but that's when **it** happens; his bowels send that dreaded signal for immediate bathroom use.

He tries to speak but all he manage is an inside groan, seeing as his lips feel heavy and refuse to move.

He stares at the ceiling and thinks "_dammit, only been what, an hour, and I'm already in need of the bathroom? Screw it, I REFUSE to be defeated by the bowels!_"

After thinking this, and with great effort, he frees his right arm from Budou, and with even greater effort he manages to sit up.

His body shakes as he uses all his concentration on both keeping straight and holding it in, then thinks "_these girls are so tired. They haven't even noticed me moving. No matter Ail, you have to keep going. It's only a matter of time before it happens. MOVE!_"

The dense but stubborn one, even though his legs feel like stiff iron rods, uses his magic, will, and stubbornness to push himself up, stumbles toward the door, and even with momentum pushing his weak body forward he manages to open the sliding doors and continues to stumble toward the bathroom, using the walls as support.

Having successfully reached the throne, Ail sighs with relief while business is taken care of, and in his mind he thinks "_ha, I did it! And all by myself! Take that Yuki, Shikieiki and Suwako! I should get a MEDAL for this!"_

After finishing up and managing to flush, the boy walks out the bathroom doors with a struggled, but well earned smile on his face, then falls on the ground and starts to snore softly.

Five minute later, Cirno, accompanied by Phredia, walks into the corridor to the rooms and quickly spots Ail sleeping on the floor next to the bathroom door.

The two fairies look at each other, then Cirno shouts "fairy-mom lady! Ail is sleeping on the floor!"

Rapid thumps rattle the floor and Ayalina skids to a stop behind Cirno, then points at the boy and exclaims "WAH~ What the HECK is my boy doing there?"

From Sanae's room, Sanae screams "oh no, Where is he?", then Budou quickly adds "papa's disappeared again! Someone CHAIN HIM UP already!"

The crazy young-looking mother has her fairy wings and pink eyes activated as she holds her limp son on her arms, then exclaims "I got him right here you neglectful duo!"

Sanae skids on her socks out of her room and exclaims "don't start with that you perverted withered old flower!"

A massive red vein pulsates on Ayalina's forehead as she manages a smile, and says "well, well, it seems the sexy virgin's looking for a spanking."

Sanae's gohei appear on the wind priestess' right hand, then Kanako jumps in the center of the corridor, blocks the sparks from both girls' eyes, and angrily says "he was just using the bathroom you two idiots. Don't start a fight over that!"

From the bathroom, Suwako exclaims "wow, he even managed to flush. He deserves a medal for stubbornness."

There is a moment of pause, tension slowly goes down, then there is a flush as Suwako says "never mind. There was a bit left."

All in the corridor, including Cirno and Budou, stick their tongues out and express their disgust, unaware that Ail is awake and thinking "_NOOO~! My medal!_"

* * *

Moments later, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu, Marisa, and Shinki are the last girls out of the hot spring, and all three wear a single towel wrapped around, and said towels only cover just as needed, no more, no less.

Shinki gets between Marisa and Reimu, wraps her arms around the girls, then says "you were right about that bath Reimu. I feel like new."

The girls hold their towels up in embarrassment after noticing Shinki's impressive cleavage, then the maiden nervously says "heh, yeah, glad you're better."

The Makaian goddess stops, takes two steps back, says "heads up!" then lifts her arms and catches Yuki before said girl hits the ground on her back.

The goddess quickly kneels down and places her daughter on the ground, and ignoring the fact that her towel has just fallen off, she places her hand on the fire witch's forehead.

Her perfect skin jiggles freely as said goddess moves her arms, but her concentration remains on her daughter.

Yuki shivers and gulps, then manage to cry "it hurts."

Shinki looks at the wounds on the girl's face, arm and abdomen, shushes her daughter, then whispers "it's alright, I'll make it all better now."

Reimu seems a bit disgusted as she points out "um, Shinki... Your towel.", then the maiden gasps and hurried inside.

The goddess keeps her full attention on the fire witch as she sternly says "in a minute. This is more important."

Surprisingly enough, Marisa picks Shinki's towel and covers the back of the goddess and says "so, red ice water wounds. She's lucky they stopped bleeding."

Reimu rushes to get closer and kneels to look at the wounds and help Shinki a bit with a charm she picked up inside the house and says "sorry, I hadn't noticed."

The goddess nods and replies "n-no worries. I just need to remove the remains and she'll recover."

As she says this, the Makaian passes two fingers by Yuki's wounds and as she does small pink droplets drip out of the wounds and roll to the ground.

The fire witch's face reveals relief as the burning and freezing pain, and the sensation of her wounds spreading open leaves her senses.

She opens her eyes, smiles at her mother and the two girls, then says "sorry. Wanted to go home and just-"

Shinki grabs the witch and pulls her closer in a very sudden embrace, then whispers "my girl, I'm sorry. I messed up."

Reimu and Marisa chuckle at the sight of Yuki's embarrassed face as she hesitantly hugs her mother back, then said witch says "um... mom, you're naked."

Reimu's and Marisa's chuckles convert to endearing aws even though Shinki yelps and says "whoops. I almost forgot.", and hurries to wrap her towel again.

On the porch, blushing hard and drooling at the sight are Tenshi, Mima and Aya, and it's the celestial that casually says "please ignore us and just keep going."

A giant paper fan wielded by Rika knocks all the perverted girls down as the maid says "please don't be rude to mother or I'll have to punish you lot."

* * *

Meanwhile, at Eintei, Eirin walks out of the clinic with her hands stained in red and a satisfied look on her face.

She sighs contently and says to herself "I hadn't expressed myself so artistically during a punishment session since..."

She places her finger on her lower lip and looks up to the sunny sky then asks to herself "actually, when was the last time I had to actually punish Udongein?"

Yorihime walks out of the mansion with Mystia clinging on to her back, then grimaces at the sight of Eirin's hands and asks "did you leave some Toyohime alive down there?"

Eirin smiles so tenderly it's as though she's just been complemented for and outstanding achievement and sweetly says "why of course I did. She's in the fourth room. I managed to stabilize her, so you may go in if you like."

Even Mystia gulps after that quite frighteningly happy reply, then she and the Lunarian rush straight into the clinic, Mystia saying "Wriggle was right. Eirin can be so frightening!"

The Lunarian pharmacist takes another deep breath, and after she exhales she blinks twice toward the sound of flapping wings, then says "ah, seems he found her again."

The bearded heaping mass of bruises that is Lester Wilson falls sprawled on the ground, then the delivery girl says "he actually went all the way to Mugenkan on foot."

Eirin smiles at the girl in front of her and asks "wow, that's devotion. Say, aren't you going to turn to ash under the sun?"

Flying above the body of the man is Kurumi, the cute vampire-forced-to-servant, and she looks rather casual under the sunlight.

She has long golden hair that reaches to her lower back, yellow eyes, a large pair of purple bat wings the same size of her body, and wears a white bow tied to the left of her head, a white long-sleeved shirt with a long red skirt held by a pair of suspenders, and a pair of short white socks and blood-red shoes.

She smiles at the Lunarian doctor and says "oh, I'm touched by your concern, but fear not. Rika enchanted all my clothes so the sun can't kill me. It does bother a bit, but it's nothing too concerning anymore."

Eirin's face is now filled with wonderment, a bad sign for anything NOT wishing to get dissected, stripped, violated in several manners, and/or be experimented on.

The tiny, yet well endowed vampire notices the look on the nurse and flies higher before saying "well, yeah, um I better head back. Lady Yuka wasn't very happy after he groped her, so... yeah. Um, see you around!"

The pharmacist raises her arm and exclaims "wait!", but the vampire is long gone, to which she says to herself "oh well, there goes another rare specimen."

She looks down at the man with surprisingly intact glasses as he is being carried away on a stretcher by both Reisen and Tewi, both wearing short pastel-pink nurse outfits, and says "well mister Wilson, please wait for me in room one. I'll take a look at those bruises."

As he is carried away he manages to lift his right arm and groan "ok. Kh, I'll be waiting."

After the nurses carry him inside Eirin says to herself "Yuka had fun with him this time. Maybe I should try and convince him to forget about her before she really does damage. She is short tempered after all."

The Lunarian thinks long and hard about it, then shrugs as she walks away and says "eh, I won't try too hard, but he's still human after all. Heh, such stupid creatures they are."

* * *

At the Myouren Temple, Byakuren and her guests, along with many of the temple's followers, are all having some tea after a meal at the surprisingly large dining hall.

It's a bit dark, probably to accommodate the nocturnal youkai that eat there too.

There is only one small window at the front of the room, while at the back there is a stained-glass art of The Buddha in mediation above a large lotus.

The center of the room is taken by several long tables that have been placed together and are decorated by matching mantles to make them look like on giant table.

Around the table are dark-wooden chairs that although look comfortable, also seem hard.

Sitting on the back side of the table are Byakuren, Kyouko, Nazrin, Shou, Minamitsu and Kogasa.

Nazrin, the tiny but clever commander, has short grey hair, red eyes, a pair of large mouse ears on her head, a long mouse tail with a basket hanging near the tip, and wears a brownish-black sleeveless vest and skirt, a long-sleeved pink shirt underneath, a pair of white socks and brownish-black shoes, a light-grey capelet with golden border, and a crystal pendulum necklace.

She keeps glaring at Drake while looking elegant about it.

Shou Toramaru, the clumsy Bishamonten disciple, has short orange-yellow hair with black stripes, and golden-yellow eyes.

She wears a large orange lotus-shaped ornament on her head, a large cloth circle on her back, a burgundy-orange-white long-sleeved dress with a tiger pattern cloth around the waist, white frilly pants underneath, and a pair of black shoes.

She keeps nudging Nazrin under the table to avoid a tense situation.

Minamitsu Murasa, the awesome ghost captain of the Palanquin, has short black hair and teal eyes.

She wears a white captain's hat, a white sailor's shirt and pants with a teal collar and teal on the lower borders, a red neckerchief, and a pair of white socks and black boots.

She and Kogasa are watching the situation, while Byakuren and Kyouko seem to be blissfully unaware of what's going on with Nazrin.

Drake isn't being a saint either as he continuously returns a vile and disgusted smile at the mouse youkai.

He, Kyo, Luna, and Medicine sit on the front side of the table, and to the right tables are more youkai, most a bunch of girls, including the red haired fairy Shou saved not long ago, and amongst them is a single male youkai nekomata who has wavy black hair, three tails, and wears long army pants and a black muscle shirt.

After finishing his meal, Kyo turns a mischievous smile toward Kyouko, who twitches and gasps but remains as she is.

Late to lunch is Nue Houjuu, the undefined girl with the mini-skirt dress.

She has short black hair that reach her shoulders, dark-red eyes, three red-metallic wings on the right of her back, three blue arrow-shaped wing tails on the left, and holds a trident with a snake coiled around it on her right hand.

She wears a short black dress that ends up as a mini-skirt and has blue around and under the collar, white frills around the blue bits, a pair of long black thigh-high socks, red shoes, a black wrist band on her left wrist, and has a snake coiled around her right arm.

On an additional note, her body is quite curvy and looks quite attractive for someone who's supposed to scare people.

She looks inside the room and immediately notices the dirty look shot by Drake.

Before she is able to comment, Kyo whispers "well, look who's here..."

He smiles as he casually looks over to Kyouko, ignoring Byakuren's threatening smile, then loudly says "**it's pettan-chan!**"

The teal-haired girl yamabiko's instincts kick in, she cups her hands around her mouth and her ears shiver as she shouts "IT'S PETTAN-CHAN!"

The little girl screams and shouts "no~! I'm sorry miss Houjuu, don't kill me!"

The nue youkai is already aiming her trident at the yamabiko girl, but stops when Byakuren flings a spoon on Kyo's laughing face and angrily, yet still smiling, says "Kyo, that's getting really out of hand. Stop it already!"

The thigh-high girl stares at the boy, who laughs even though he's on the ground with a spoon lodged on his forehead and says "he's so mature. I'm going to kill him now."

Medicine sighs and says "as stupid as he is I'd still miss my pet, so please don't kill him."

Luna rams a fist on Medicine's head and angrily says "he's my pet Medicine, not yours!"

The doll youkai rubs her head furiously and opens her mouth to shout, but Kyo jumps off the ground and furiously exclaims "hey, I'm a human, not a pet!"

Kyouko loudly repeats "I'm a human, not a pet!"

The boy points at the yamabiko and says "see? **She agrees with me!**"

The little girl shouts "she agrees with me!" then shakes her head and says "no way, I'm just being a good echo!"

At the other side of the table, Kogasa pokes Minamitsu on the shoulder and asks "hey, are you following any of this?"

The captain holds a camcorder on her right hand and happily says "nope, but I sure am going to enjoy watching this again later."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library, Lina and Koakuma are at the left side of the room, apparently shooting each other with bullet barrages, while Patchouli and Leon are on the right side on a desk, and seems the librarian magician is testing the boy with verbal questioning.

Watching all of it from the shadows of the upper balcony is Remilia, and along with Sakuya they both stare down with expectancy on their faces.

On the left side, Koakuma fires a barrage of large orbs at Lina and begins to chant, but Lina dodges the shots with ease, allowing them to blow on the barrier protecting the books, then swings her arms in front of herself and shoots large orbs of ice made to look like yin-yang orbs.

The sexy demon panics and flies up to avoid the insane barrage of ice orbs, then Lina groans and says "listen my sweet little pet, if you don't focus you'll never land a blow on the maiden."

Koakuma snaps back "I'm trying dammit! You're just shooting too fast!"

The ice girl blushes and smiles at the angry face of her pet demon and says to herself "dammit, she's so cute." then composes herself, clears her throat, then sternly says "the maiden will not allow you even a second for a breather! FOCUS AND SHOOT!"

The little devil's face turns red and she stomps the air with rage, then Lina shouts "dammit, TOO CUTE!", then tackles the little devil to the ground.

Koakuma screams as her clothes are being plucked and thrown away, and from the balcony Remilia says to Sakuya "just like a good predator. I taught her well. I'm so proud."

Sakuya chuckles nervously and says "you can always use me for predatorily practice my lady."

The vampire shushes the maid and whispers "look, look, Patchy's losing it!"

On the right side of the room, said magician sits behind her desk while Leon sits on a wooden chair with a red cushion on the front.

The librarian slams an open book on the desk and angrily says "that is IMPOSSIBLE! You can't have read those eight-hundred books in just three days! It took me almost fifty years to read them all!"

Leon glares back at Patchouli and says "my love, I'm telling you the truth. Miss Koakuma gave me the names and I just... read through them."

The librarian growls, looks away, then slowly looks back to the boy with a questioning look in her eyes.

She points at the book on the desk and exclaims "mixing metal and wood signs will-"

Leon quickly answers "negate each other unless there is a seal separating the elemental properties!"

Patchouli exclaims "Philosopher's Stone's advanced properties-"

Leon rapidly replies "if done incorrectly will drain the magician to the point of death, or worse, absorb him or her into a crystal for several eternities! If done correctly one could make an elixir that will prolong life, and be able to turn any metal to gold!"

The purple bean sprout narrows her eyes as she glares straight at Leon's eyes, said boy leers back, then the magician exclaims "if I were to add the recommended magical seal to my Royal Flare-"

The boy rapidly replies "casting the spell would be faster and consume less energy, it would become easier to handle, it could also open possibilities to several new patterns, but the power would decrease drastically, and there's the risk of having said seal backfire on the caster."

Patchouli holds her own chin, but before she can say anything, the boy rapidly says "and that Metal and Fire Sign Dragon summon you used against mister Ail all those years ago could become very useful to you if you add a water seal inside the dragon's body, thus mending both elements as one and making a full dragon, instead of just a head and neck."

Patchouli is left speechless, amazed, flabbergasted, and quite surprised after hearing all that.

She grabs Leon by the cheeks, pulls him closer to her, then gives him an excited and passionate kiss that surprises even him.

They can hear how Remilia excitedly exclaims "**WHOA~! NICE ONE!**", how Koakuma exclaims "Patchouli-sama, what are you doing?", and somewhere in the Hakurei Shrine, Marisa twitches and says to herself "something's not right. Someone's messing with the balance!"

Back at the library, after almost sucking the life out of the boy though his mouth, Patchouli releases Leon, lets him fall back on his chair with a dazed and happy look on his face, then exclaims "you little genius of a monster, I've been smashing my head for an answer to that spell for so long, and you just delivered it in a quick punch!"

The boy mumbles incoherently as he smiles and his cheeks turn bright pink, then Patchouli angrily says "and don't think too much about that! I was just overwhelmed!"

From the balcony above, Remilia loudly says "yeah~ right~! You just wanted some tongue, magic girl!"

Sakuya can be heard reprehensively asking "my lady, where did you learn to use such language?"

The magician growls softly, her eyes now show a deep level of regret and at the same time the desire to kill, but she just sighs and walks away.

Leon looks up with that bliss-filled face and raises a thumb up, to which Remilia returns another thumbs up from the balcony and says "just one more push kid!"

Form the distance, Patchouli shouts "stop giving them IDEAS!", then Remilia replies "and where's the fun in that?"

* * *

Ail finds himself inside the dark world once again, but this time he decides to fly around, even if he's not going anywhere, so that he can enjoy the freedom of not having the black sap poison mess with his body.

As he flies around, he passes over Yoshika, who is lying on the ground in the same pose he met her; with her hands raised in front of herself as though driving a car.

He stops above her and asks "miss Yoshika... why are you sleeping like that?"

The Jiang shi stares at the boy for a moment, then smiles and says "well I'm pretty stiff, so I was trying some stretching exercises like master ordered me, but I fell asleep and... say who are you?"

Before he answers, Yoshika disappears, then two blonde girls start flying around Ail, making him feel a bit dizzy.

One of the girls looks almost exactly like Kana Anaberal, with the blue maid outfit and frilly white apron, but instead of a hat the girl has a maid's headdress on her short blonde hair, doesn't have elbow gloves, has a red bow tied around her neck, and just like Kana, has yellow eyes.

Ail lands on what should be the ground and asks "is that you again Kana? Do I have to summon my buddy again?"

The maid girl stops in front of the boy and exclaims "Kana? Hey, don't confuse me with that poltergeist! My name's Mugetsu, a proud demon of the dream world!"

The boy and the demon girl stand staring at each other for a few seconds, then Mugetsu blushes and whimpers "h-hey, this is when you tell me YOUR name!"

Before the dense one can answer, the other girl flies straight to her partner and exclaims "we're not here to make friends imouto-chan! We're here to find a way out of here!"

This girl has longer blonde hair that reaches to her shoulder blades, yellow eyes, and wears a red ribbon over her head, a long-sleeved rosy-pink dress with a dark-red vest on top, a pair of reddish-brown calf-high boots, and has a pair of white wings on her back.

The blonde maid jumps on the blonde angel's shoulder, chuckles, then says "Sis! Sorry Gengetsu. He just seems to nice and gullible!"

The boy smiles very friendly-like as he says "well, miss Mugetsu and miss Gengetsu, my name is Ail, and if you call me gullible again I am going to pull on your toes."

Gengetsu giggles, then says "then we'll just call you dense.", to which the dense one exclaims "acceptable!"

The boy and winged demon girl hold each other by the shoulders all buddy-like and laugh it off, while Mugetsu stands by herself and shrugs as she says "how gullible."

The winged demon girl pats Ail on the chest and says "say Ail, we're looking for someone that can get us out of this world. You see, it's become boring and we heard Gensokyo welcomes all, so yeah."

The dense and sort-of gullible one smiles and says "well I can open gaps between distances. Would that help?"

Mugetsu shakes her head, then Gengetsu says "no, we need someone to go to Mugenkan and open the sealed gate to the dream world for just a second."

The boy sighs, looks around, notices Mugetsu and Kana wrestling on the ground, arguing about who has the best maid dress, and ignoring the girls he says "well you could ask Yukari, but chances are she won't help, and Reimu... she won't help."

There is a short pause, even between Kana and Mugetsu, then Ail says "well, at this very moment I'm poisoned, so I cannot help. But if you wait for a bit for me to recover, I could go and give it a try."

The wrestling maids suddenly jump off the ground and fly away while screaming.

Gengetsu hugs the boy and rapidly says "that would be peachy Ail! Excuse us now cuz' we have to get the HECK out of here! See you later Ail!", then she also flies away.

A few seconds after they leave, Yoshika comes jumping quite rapidly and shouts "waaaait! Just a nibble! Please, it's just a nibble and I'll stop following you, I promise!"

Ail stares on as the fourth girl passes by him, and just like that the world brightens up again, signaling his waking up.

* * *

As he slowly returns to consciousness, the boy can hear the soft and soothing whispering of his girlfriend saying "there~, it's alright. I'm right here."

To his right he can hear Budou saying "it's working mama Sanny. He stopped shaking."

Somewhere in the room Ayalina says "hmph! so he stopped whimpering and turning, big deal. He's still **my** baby boy."

From his right Cirno says "wait, he's a baby?"

Ail opens his eyes and can see Suwako in front of his feet as she chuckles and says "no, no, this mama's boy isn't a baby. Ayalina is just saying that as an expression."

He moves his eyes up and can see the glorious, shapely mound of Sanae's body, and said maiden's soothing smiling face, and even feeling as bad as he is, Ail manages a weak smile.

The wind priestess giggles and says "see, he's quite comfortable."

He looks to the left and can see his mother getting closer while saying "tch, my boy's just being a polite little pervert."

In his mind Ail furiously says "_dag-nammit mom, I'm not a pervert!_", and slowly frowns.

He looks to his right and can see Cirno, Budou and Phredia besides the drunken Kanako, then manages another weak smile as the goddess says "heh, he forgot about that offense so quickly. Really, this boy's so easy to please."

Sanae looks at the goddess and angrily says "really lady Yasaka, you have to watch that tongue of yours or I'm going to smack you!"

Suwako steps between the maiden and goddess and says "please, Sanae, allow me that honor."

As the green-haired girl looks down at the boy she can see a large grin on his face, and right after a loud smack from the right, she smiles back, then he convulses and slowly goes back to sleep.

Looking surprised, Sanae combs Ail's hair as she says "the poor thing. Just a chuckle and he's out."

Suwako rubs the bridge of her nose as she sighs, then says "this is bad. He should at least be able to stay awake for longer by now."

Ayalina beats Sanae to the question "what do you mean? Isn't he going to get better?"

The kero-goddess nods and says "oh he's going to get better alright, just not as soon as I thought. Could take weeks at this rate."

The maiden and young-looking mother gasp simultaneously while Budou runs to the goddess and desperately asks "no~! Can't we do something? What about that doctor woman in that forest?"

With a bump on the right side of her head, Kanako looks around as though uninterested, then says "I could have a tengu messenger summon her."

Cirno springs on her feet and bravely says "I'll go! I'm fast and strong!"

Suwako chuckles nervously and pushes the fairy by her shoulder while saying "no, no, no. Ail needs you here. He's going to get a ridiculously high fever very soon, so he's going to need you to cool him down."

Right after saying that, the child-like goddess walks over to Sanae just before the maiden yelps and says "wh-whoa! Hot! Very hot!"

Ail's skin turns red, he starts to mumble in his discomfort, and the small goddess now holds his burning head to allow Sanae to roll away and blow on her thighs.

Ayalina confidently says "hah, what a weak little girl! Watch how motherly love overcomes-", and right after she touches Ail's arm she yelps, jumps away and exclaims "HOOOOT~!" allowing the shrine maiden to smile vilely at the young-looking mother.

The mature girls stick their tongues out at each other, then Suwako taps Cirno's shoulder and said ice fairy summons a freezing wind that concentrates around the burning boy, causing the look of great discomfort on his face to stop.

Budou stares as Kanako talks to a tengu warrior on the windows, sighs as she turns her head to her papa, then says to herself "these things just keep happening one after another. I'm going to have to start protecting papa more."

Phredia pats the bat's head and telepathically says "_don't you start getting into trouble too._" to which Budou angrily replies "HEY! I can take good care of myself!"

* * *

At the Hakurei Shrine, while Rika prepares dinner for the remaining guests, Yuki finishes telling her side of the tale of the visit to that Mirror Makai, and from the look on her face, she's not very happy about having to retell that tale.

She, Marisa, Reimu, Shinki, and Tenshi sit around the table, enjoying some small snacks, while Suika, Mima, and Aya are enjoying sake on the porch.

With a sigh of relief Shinki reaches for her daughter and wraps her arm around the witch's shoulders while saying "my baby I'm so sorry, but when I saw you in danger I just panicked and acted on impulse."

Yuki doesn't even lift her face to look at the goddess as she softly says "no, mom, it's alright. You saved me and I'm grateful. I'm the one who should apologized. Because of my weakness you almost lost your hand, and then acted so shamelessly in front of everyone to save my sorry butt."

Even the drinking girls on he porch are looking at the Makaians with a bit of pity as Shinki says "Yuki! Don't say things like that! You did you best and were caught off guard. That can happen to anyone. Right miss Reimu?"

She shrine maiden smiles sweetly toward the witch as she says "that's right. Nobody's perfect. Just be grateful you are still here. Now you can learn from the past and better yourself for what may come next."

The Makaian witch grits her teeth in a failed attempt to pull back her tears, punches the tables with her right hand, then breathes through her teeth.

Tenshi angrily says "hey, take it easy!", while Shinki softly asks "Yuki, what's the matter?"

Yuki angrily says "I'll tell you 'what's the matter'! The matter is that I am a pathetic excuse for a witch that's afraid of a damned color!"

Mima is three feet away from the witch and already holding a frilly pink dress while asking "you mean like this?"

Yuki jumps away from Mima, even going as far as pushing her goddess away, falls on her seat with her back against the kitchen's tall counter, and while holding her chest and glaring with tear-filled eyes at the evil spirit she furiously says "dammit, not again! What the **** hell is wrong with me?"

Marisa rips the dress off Mima's hand and hides it while joining the rest of the girls to stare in shock at Yuki.

The Makaian witch stands up, trying to hide her crying eyes under her hat, then walks out of the shrine.

From the kitchen, Rika concernedly asks "Yuki, what's wrong with my usually-cheerful sister?"

The witch stops at the entrance and glares to the kitchen, revealing her puffy, tear-soaked eyes to Rika as she angrily says "sorry I can't be the crazy bitch you're all used to seeing all the time. Even this pathetic excuse of a creation has her moments."

With worry and firmness in her voice, Shinki exclaims "Yuki, that's no way to talk about yourself to your sister!"

The fire witch turns around to face the exit, sobs, and with a cracked voice she manages to declare "Flaming Acceleration."

Her body is surrounded by a ball of fire, and in an instant she takes off and is already halfway to reaching the gates to Makai.

On the way, Suzaku's voice echoes in her mind as she says "_when you are feeling better, please look me up. I can help you._"

The fire witch looks around for the bird of vermillion and cannot find her, but regardless she sobs and nods just before entering through the gate home.

Back at the shrine the mood feels gloomy while Reimu tries to cheer Shinki up and Marisa scolds Mima, something you don't really get to see every day.

Aya takes plenty of photos while Marisa angrily says "geez, of all the crazy things to do Mima-sama. I got a good mind to make you recite runes and their meaning for several hours!"

Mima frowns and cries "but I swear, I didn't think she'd react that way!"

Reimu holds Shinki by the shoulders while softly asking "are you really alright? You can go home to her. We'll understand, won't we Rika?"

The maid nods and says "i-it's alright mom, I won't take offense. Go and cheer sis up."

Shinki shakes her head and calmly says "no, it's alright. She's going into her house right now so she's fine. Best let her be until she calms down."

Reimu rubs the goddess' shoulder to help her calm down while looking around, making Rika twitch a bit when her gaze passes by the maid, and sounding a bit confused she asks "hey, where's Youmu?"

Over at a ghostly shrine, Youmu desperately runs from the kitchen to the living room while exclaiming "I'm so sorry Yuyuko-sama! Dinner will be ready sooner than soon, I promise!"

A translucent image of Yuyuko sits next to the short table, and looking casually at the half-ghost girl she says "Youmu, please hurry up. I'm nothing but skin and bones."

Saying this, the ghostly princess grabs her right of her hip with her left hand and rips her own skin off at the very moment Youmu re-enters the living room.

Seeing this sight of bones, organs and skin, the poor half-ghost shrieks in horror at the sight and tries to run back to the kitchen, but slams herself hard against the doorway and falls in a daze on her back.

Yuyuko, looking more normal, flies over to the fallen gardener and asks "Youmu, is it ok for that black smoke to be coming out of the kitchen?"

* * *

At the Myouren Temple, Byakuren walks out of the temple's foyer accompanied by Nazrin, Shou and Medicine.

After them come Kyo and Kyouko, who seem to have a truce at the moment, Luna and Drake, and said boy has a look of disgust on his face that could wilt a poisonous flower in an instant.

Byakuren smiles as she gestures her guests to the stairs leading to the ground and says "I hope you enjoyed the tour of the temple mister Drake. I apologize for lunch. It seems it didn't suit your tastes."

With that acid look on his face, the boy calmly says "it's not the food miss. I don't need to eat. I am a god after all."

The saint places her hand on her chest as she lets out a loud sigh of relief and says "oh thank goodness! I thought my cooking had gotten rusty."

Shou immediately exclaims "NEVER! Lady Hijiri's cooking is perfect, as it's always been!"

Kyouko suddenly shouts "Hijiri's cooking is perfect!"

Kyo abruptly changes the conversation by asking "hey, I didn't see Ichirin or Unzan all day. Where are they?"

Sounding a bit annoyed, Nazrin replies "eh, she went to the village today to see if some humans would join our temple."

Byakuren giggles and says "such a hard worker she is. I sure hope more humans come to here, and I'm sure they will. Ah, it's just a matter of time before youkai and humans live together in harmony."

After hearing Byakuren's sentence Drake spits "never."

The youchrist stares concernedly at Drake and nervously asks "I-I'm sorry? Wh-what's wrong mister-"

Drake angrily says "you heard me woman, don't play dumb."

Saying this triggers Nazrin, Shou and Kyo to attack stances, then the muscular boy angrily says "hey Drake, watch that damned mouth of yours! Byakuren hasn't done anything for you to **talk to her like that!**", which Kyouko angrily repeats "talk to her like that! ...Meany!"

The visitor ignores the three glares and continues staring at Byakuren while saying "you claim this is a temple of unity, to join humans and youkai in peace, but all I've seen so far are these dem-... these youkai, and they will first kill a human before befriending it. Your ideals are cute miss Hijiri, but claiming to believe in unity while siding mostly with youkai would make anyone question your true intentions."

Shou furiously shouts "hey boy, tone it down! The humans-"

Drake loudly snaps "are smart enough to not come here!", at the same time as Kyouko repeat's Shou's "tone it down!"

Drake then looks around the temple as he takes flight and says "this place is a joke, even to Buddha!"

To the point of tears, the youchrist shouts "that's not true! Buddha understands how long this road is! He is very happy with our achievements so far; I know this well!"

Drake grins sweetly, but even though he emanates a soothing light from his aura, all those around Byakuren can feel the fury and anxiety.

The visitor sighs then says "if a human even steps into these ground, he or she will be eaten alive in a second! Byakuren-san, do the sensible thing and just call this place a youkai temple. That way humans won't be tricked into coming here and you'll prevent from getting sealed again."

Luna unsheathes her right sword and angrily says "you really are an asshole, aren't you! Byakuren, don't listen to this idiot!"

Everyone turn their heads to the saint-like woman and immediately notice that face, the face that express how one's dreams and ideals break to bits right before your very eyes, and now even Kyouko manages to subdue her parrot-like echoing out of concern for Byakuren.

Furious, Nazrin shouts "oh, NOW you've done it! Is should have kicked you out when I had the chance!"

Luna holds Byakuren by her shoulders while saying "don't listen to him Hijiri! He's just a bitter boy who can't even dream up a cupcake!"

Drake is already far from everyone's reach as he says "I am a god, so I **know** what I'm saying! She knows this too. Byakuren Hijiri do the world a favor and stop lying to yourself and to others and just clo-"

Before he can finish his sentence, a massive pink fist flies from the boy's right, but Drake is too agile and manages to dodge the attack with ease.

He looks to his attackers and can see a girl with light-purple way hair, dark-blue eyes, wearing a dark-blue nun's headdress, a long-sleeved white dress with dark-blue borders on the bottom, grey socks, black shoes, and holds a golden ring on her right hand where a large pink cloud in the shape of a man seems to cling to.

Ichirin Kumoi and Unzan, the girly nun and manly cloud duo, glare at the outsider, then Ichirin exclaims "you better apologize to nee-san right now!"

* * *

Drake smiles toward the newcomers and exclaims "what's this? More youkai! Hijiri, you TRULY disappoint me!"

He charges straight at the girl, who quickly declares "Barrage, King Kraken Strike!"

Unzan grows ten times his own size and barrages Drake with a shower of punches while Ichirin shoots an insane barrage of pink orbs in a spiral around herself at the same time as more pink orbs shower from above Unzan's head.

Kyo desperately shouts "he's going to kill her!", then he, Shou, Nazrin and Luna rush to the sky with their select weapons on hand to aid the Nyuudo and her counterpart.

Drake has already negated Unzan's fists and is breezing through the shower of bullets toward the girl with an orb that looks like an electric spark made of pure holy light on his hand.

The boy grabs the nun by her wrist and winds his sparked hand and Ichirin yelps.

Drake feels the cold burn of steel and a blunt and thin impact on his back and his immediate reaction is to release the girl after flinching in surprise.

Ichirin slams a fist on his head and flies away while Nazrin uses her rods like staffs and Luna links her blades' attacks with the mouse youkai's dowsing rods.

The outsider grabs both weapons with his bare hands, ignores the cold sensation from the cut he gets from Luna's blade, and effortlessly pulls the girls together and slams them so hard there is a quick crack from both, making them fall.

Below them Kyo and Shou rush forward, Kyo with his flaming sword held on both hand while Shou holds her spear firmly.

Kyo barks "SHOU!", and the tiger youkai looks at him and links hands, then both simultaneously shout "Holy Flames of the Middle East!"

They start spinning in the air as both weapons mix holy light and fire, then turn into what looks like a giant spiraling bullet.

Drake is already preparing a dark water spell to counter that attack and doesn't notice Luna to his left riding on Unzan's fist with one sword pointed at him while the other is held upward.

She slices the godling's chest with one blade and shoots multi-colored danmaku kunai to his face with the other, causing a distraction and allowing Kyo and Shou to slice through said godling with their weapons and sanctified fire spiral.

The tiger and the boy separate after going through Drake, loop in the air, the fly toward their friends to regroup and share the same look of disbelief and despair.

Nazrin clicks her tongue an says "we're not even hurting him."

Luna desperately asks "should we try again?"

Several feet in front of them the holy and fire spiral gets absorbed by Drake, who smiles as he says "go ahead and try again. Though be forewarned I won't hold back this time!"

The second he finishes his sentence he expels a powerful wave of energy, and those that haven't felt it yet quickly feel ill.

Kyo has to hold Shou, while Luna holds Nazrin and Unzan holds Ichirin, then the muscled boy exclaims "dammit, it's that energy! Unzan, hold on!"

He flies to the Nyuudo and grabs Ichirin before the cloud-man shrinks to the size of a human child.

On the ground, the broken Byakuren, and Kyouko fall to the ground, while Medicine runs around in circles with Su-San holding on to the youkai's shoulder.

Medicine finally stops and shouts "Kyo, Luna, they're down! What's going on?"

Drake's voice echoes all over the temple as he says "all of you together cannot contain the truth that I am! I am Drake Starstriker, ascended human to godly status by powerful rights! My power is beyond you, my knowledge surpasses time and space! Byakuren Hijiri, commendable as your actions are, a dream born from love despite of what the humans did to you, you must understand the futility of this and MUST put an end to it before you disgrace the name of Buddha any further."

* * *

Byakuren allows her hair to spread all around her face to hide her shame, but her sobs and cracked voice rings clearly in Kyouko's ears as she cries "but... he's happy. The Buddha is happy with our work, I just know it!"

The yamabiko youkai struggles to stand up, glares toward Drake, and using her manipulation of sound, though she speaks weakly, she is heard all over the temple.

Her ears shiver as she weakly says "that's right. What lady Hijiri says is true. I know it in my heart that Buddha is really proud of these girls' hard work."

On the sky, Shou and Ichirin grab Kyo by his arms and Ichirin whispers "get him bro." while Shou whispers "hit him where it hurts."

Kyo looks at both girls with surprise but before he can ask he is hurled fast and hard toward the god-like boy.

The muscled boy grins, summons his flame-covered samurai sword, and just as he reaches Drake he shouts "Flames of Elegance!"

On the ground, Kyouko continues "some of the villagers have already come to this temple, and though I cannot deny there's been some troubles, miss Byakuren, miss Ichirin, and even myself, we have all pitched in and turned what could have been a terrible blood-shed into a peaceful resolution. I haven't really been here this long, but I am sure this has happened plenty of times, and I know those humans keep coming back."

On the sky, Kyo thrusts his sword at Drake at insane speeds.

The tip of the weapon is surrounded by blue flames, and from the hilt several blue fireballs fly straight at the god-in-training.

Said boy seems completely unimpressed as he skillfully dodges each of Kyo's sword-thrusts and fireballs as though he's not even being attacked, however her quickly realizes the other four girls and the Nyuudo have recovered from before, and are attacking him from all side.

Drake smiles, while Kyo grunts and shouts "RETREAT!", but it's too late.

The god-boy unleashes a water spell that surrounds his entire body and traps everyone within it.

While this happens, Kyouko, sounding stronger and clearer continues "it's true that at first these humans return bearing weapons and protective spells, but in a very short time miss Hijiri can turn that human and the attacking youkai into friends. It's a very impressive sight. That youkai even becomes that human's guardian outside of the temple. Drake Starstriker you are very wrong. I am sorry, but I just can't believe what you are saying is true. I can feel it in my heart, Buddha is happy, so miss Byakuren please stand up and be proud."

At that very moment the yamabiko can feel her neck being gripped hard, then she notices Medicine has been knocked out on the ground next to her.

She chokes and grunts as Drake lifts her off the ground with a peaceful smile on his face, then the boy says "demons like yourself can only spew lies. I will gladly strip you of the shroud of confusion, miss Hijiri. I'll start by purifying this creature, and then you can close this temple and look for a more appropriate goal. Something that will benefit humanity-"

Before his sentence is finished, the godling grunts and his hold on Kyouko is lost, he can feel a powerful pressure on his left cheek, and for a brief moment he loses his sight.

Byakuren Hijiri has smashed one of her most powerful and brutal punches right on Starstriker's left cheek, staring at him with great scorn and breathing through her teeth as she expels her own saint-like energy.

The boy is flung away from the temple's porch and spins away, bouncing twice on the ground before ramming through the bit of inner wall and finally stopping on the ground next to that now-broken wall.

The Buddhist magician holds the frightened yamabiko youkai, allowing Kyouko to sink her cute face on her warm shoulder, and with subdued, yet righteous fury, Hijiri says "I thank you for your concern Starstriker, I will discard them and treat them as the lies they are."

Drake trembles as he slowly sits up to look at the woman, who loudly says "you are very mistaken about so many things! This child you just tried to silence is right, I was a fool to listen to you. You may be a god in training, but you really have no clue what being a god truly means. You try to force your own ideals on us like it's the right thing to do, and though you do it out of concern for the humans, you are still forgetting your place."

She pauses to allow the boy to absorb what she is saying, then frowns and says "gods should never interfere, but guide those that seek their guidance to the right path in life, not force them to see things their own ways. I hadn't noticed this before until you tried to harm this girl. Drake Starstriker, if you keep going the way you are, you'll end up as a fallen god. Rethink your methods, and maybe then I'll allow you to enter this temple again."

By now Drake can see several youkai standing all around the temple, and now he can see there are a few humans from the village amongst these creatures.

Kogasa, Minamitsu, and even that nekomata boy, along with the entire temple inhabitants stare with disgust at the boy who stands up and quickly flies away to the Youkai Mountain without saying another word.

As Byakuren glares at him, Kyouko whimpers "lady Hijiri, you're alright again, r-right?"

The gradient-haired woman keeps looking toward Drake as she says "I'm sorry to have worried you Kyouko. It certainly was foolish of me to listen to that man. True, he does have some level of godhood, but he's no god. Not yet at least. But..."

The yamabiko shifts her ears as she tries to look with concern at Byakuren's face while asking "Hijiri-san, are you alright?"

The lovely woman closes her eyes for a moment, then opens them when she is sure her face is aimed at Kyouko and smiles sweetly as she hesitantly says "y-yes, I'm alright. I-I really am. Um..."

She turns around and places the cute yamabiko on the ground, then says "l-let's go help the others, alright?"

Kyouko smiles with glee and asks "do we have to help Kyo?"

Byakuren giggles and replies "of course we do."

* * *

At night, at the Moriya Shrine, Sanae, Budou, Phredia and Cirno sit around Ail as he looks at them through weary eyes and smiles.

The ice around him is making sure his body temperature stay as normal as possible, but still they have been advised not to touch him yet.

All three girls smile back at him, then a triple-roar symphony of the empty stomachs makes Ail convulse with a chuckle and fall asleep again.

Sanae sighs, then says "damn, I'm so hungry, but I don't want to leave Ail on his own again."

While holding her stomach, Budou nods and says "yeah. W-we must endure, for papa's sake."

Cirno looks at the two girls, hesitantly nods, then hugs herself tight while swaying back and forth while sitting on the ground.

Phredia flies around the girls while furiously waving her hands in the air and desperately points outside toward the kitchen in a futile attempt to convince the girls to go eat something.

The shrine maiden shakes her head and says "I can't leave him alone."

The bat youkai smacks her lips, then lightly punches the sides of her own head, then says "no, I can't fall to the food. Don't fill my head with the food!"

The ice fairy drools as she lifts her right arm toward the door and like a monotone zombie, says "just one nibble. Just a small bite."

The sliding doors open and Suwako leans her back against the door's frame, then playfully says "you drooling darlings should go and eat now. Ayalina's bean buns are to DIE for. Don't worry about Ail, I'll take care of him while you-"

Long before she can finish her sentence the three girls and tiny elf fairy rush past the door and head straight to the kitchen in a second, leaving behind a trail of dust.

The little goddess stares in disbelief at the sight then shakes her head while holding her forehead and saying "so much for endurance. Oh well."

She closes the door, walks over to the boy, then places her hand on his forehead and whispers "a strong believer of nature he is, so let nature provide some relief from this unnatural high fever."

After saying this, the floor underneath Ail turns to soil, odd green vines with lilac and rose colored flowers surround the boy's arms, abdomen and forehead, and immediately lower his high temperature, something the ice fairy forgot about when she canceled her spell to go eat.

The boy smiles again and slightly opens his eyes to look at the goddess, then Suwako smiles back, combs his hair, then says "heh, seeing you like this makes me feel a little sorry for you, but then again you are already a sorry sight."

Ail manages a very bright smile as he looks at the goddess, and thinks "_ah lady Moriya. Of all the people here, I am sure you are the only one that can heal me. I believe in the goddess of Moriya and all her blessings._"

Suwako chuckles and says "that was one very pretty prayer Ail. Really, I hadn't heard something so- Wait, what... what's going on?"

The boy continues to stare at the tiny goddess and smiles, and soon Suwako finds herself glowing gold while saying "this... this is..."

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Luna, Budou, Phredia, Ayalina, Spee, Girlie, Leon, Lina and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Kyo's - Flame's of Elegance; Kyo-Shou's - Holy Flames of the Middle East; Yuki's Flaming Acceleration were created by Willie G.R. (similarities are strictly coincidental.)

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Special appearance by Lester Wilson

MAY 22 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**What can I say this time? Yes, I know, I made Hijiri cry and I feel like shit about it! Still, messing at the SDM with the Kori twins should have made up for it. I mean, you weren't expecting that, right? Not even Remi was expecting that! I wasn't expecting that! And what about Eirin? Was that **_**Yagokoro**_** enough, or does it need more? Nah, I think it was alright. Ah well, I just don't know what else to say, so I'll just cut it and say: "until next chapter" (Currently working on the next Almost Pirates chapter. Please pray I am able to finish it without hindrance!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**NOTE: Quite a long chapter. Again I took some liberties while writing, I hope you enjoy and take it easy.**

* * *

It is a rather late hour in the night by the time the three hungry nurse-wannabes at the Moriya Shrine chow down like raging beasts the meal presented to them in the center table of the Moriya Shrine's living room.

Sanae sits across Budou, who sits next to Cirno, and all three are eating their bean buns as though if they stopped now the buns would run away.

Each holds one bun on each hand and though Sanae focuses on devouring the one on her right, the fruit bat and ice fairy take a bite off each one on either hand before chewing.

Phredia sits on Kanako's shoulder and watches horrorstruck at the sight, while said goddess stands between the shrine maiden and the door to the rooms corridor with her arms crossed under her chest.

She looks with disgust at the famished trio, then turns her sight to the elf fairy and says "seeing things like this makes me glad I'm a goddess and don't need food to survive."

The little fairy nods in assent and crosses her little arms across her chest while looking away.

Sanae gulps down her monstrous bite and says "well sorry we missed lunch! Honestly, if I hadn't asked missis Ayalina to help we would all be dying of hunger."

A drop of sweat rolls down the goddess' forehead as she says "w-well it's not like I don't know how to... cook and such things. Umm, still y-you were the ones holding back from coming to eat just to watch over that sick-boy over your room."

A ladle covered with red bean paste flies straight and true at the mighty goddess' forehead and knocks her down to the floor while Phredia quickly flies off the woman's shoulder to avoid getting tangled in the mess.

Kanako rises from the ground with mighty ladle on right hand, vein pulsating on the head, and bean paste stain on the forehead while furiously asking "what the hell was that for flower mom?"

From the kitchen's doorway Ayalina smiles casually while holding on to a wet towel and saying "that '_sick boy_' happens to be my sweet boy Ail, so you better not speak ill of him like he's some sort of insect."

The youkai mother catches the flying ladle with grace and skill and begins cleaning off the paste while the blue-haired goddess furiously exclaims "I was just making a point! There's no need for that crap in-"

The well endowed war goddess changes her expression quite abruptly and turns her attention toward Sanae's room, then asks "what in the... What's going on over there?"

Ayalina quickly demands "what's wrong? Kanako what's happening to my boy?"

The goddess ignores the flower youkai and promptly rushes to the room, and Ayalina quickly drops the towel and ladle and chases after the goddess, saying "if something happened to him I'm going to rip some heads off!"

On the table, Cirno, Budou and Sanae stare at each other with their second bean buns held against their lips, then Phredia flies over and pulls on Budou's wing, edging her and the others to hurry up and follow.

Without further hesitation the three girls jump to their feet and follow Kanako and Ayalina to the room, the shrine maiden feeling something; a strong source of power that feels warm and familiar, but different at the same time, hanging in the air around her.

Reaching the open doors to the room, all three girls gasp at the sight inside, and just like Ayalina, stand in place with their arms hanging limp in the air, their mouths wide open, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets, and in Budou's and Cirno's cases, their wings stretched as open as they can be.

Inside the room Ail floats in the fetal position inside a rainbow-colored orb that is surrounded by the most peculiar yet beautiful rock formation they have ever seen.

It is reddish-brown and looks like a giant fairy with smooth hair that curls slightly at the tips, wearing what looks like a long strapless dress made of silk and flowers, and its wings happen to be where Ail is encased.

But that's not what has these girls frozen in shock.

To the left of said formation is a well endowed woman dressed in a purple robe with long white sleeves.

She has perfect skin, smooth blonde hair with the sideburns laced with a red string, bright turn-color eyes which seem to have a hint of grey as the dominating color, wears Suwako's straw hat, which happens to look a bit silly on her, and ties the middle of her robe with red rope and thus shows off her perfect figure.

She raises her left leg as she sits in mid-air, showing off a bit of skin from her bare right leg and smiles angelically as she says "so much faith from one little fool. Really, he earned this prize along with my blessings."

Kanako stares with both confidence and annoyance at the true form of her goddess rival and friend and says "well, well, if it isn't the **old** form of my ancient child-like enemy."

Picking up on the wind goddess' subtle insult, the straw-hat goddess replies "well I still look better than you, and my complexion is flawless in comparison."

* * *

After a minute passes by, Sanae recovers herself and with unexplainable tears in her eyes she exclaims "M-Mo-Moriya-sama! Bu-bu-but I thought... How did you... So beautiful."

Budou looks like a zombie as she stares at Suwako's true form and in a monotone voice says "the light. It's so beautiful. I must go to it."

The second the bat youkai jumps toward the goddess the elf fairy traps her inside an oval barrier, making Sanae angrily exclaim "Phredia, what the hell are you doing to Budou?"

Without looking at the goddess the maiden knows she's being gestured to calm down, and when she does look at Suwako she notices her hand is slightly raised and gesturing said command, and in a soothing yet strong tone the goddess says "regardless of how sweet she is, if Budou were to touch me now she'll be purified in an instant."

The green-haired maiden nods while keeping her eyes locked on the goddess before her, ignoring the ice fairy flying between them toward an unknown goal.

Ayalina finally snaps out of her own shock, scowls at Suwako, then demands "hey sexy goddess, what about him! What are you doing to my baby Ail? Why is he inside that ball thing?"

The goddess can't contain her smile which also causes a powerful bright light to emanate from within her own body, and says "his faith is so strong and so pure he alone gave me enough power to take this ancient form."

From the background Kanako snaps "HAH! There, she said it! She's **ANCIENT**!"

Ignoring the air-headed goddess, Ayalina demands "and? What does that have to do with my baby being inside that thing?"

Sounding hesitant, Sanae asks "he... he's not, umm... you know... dead?"

The blond goddess giggles and shakes her head, then says "I am just answering his prayer and healing his body. Don't you two worry, he's going to be just fine. Once he's out of there he'll need one, maybe two days of bed rest and he'll be back to his hundred."

The goddess's smile widens when she sees that gleam in Sanae's eyes and adds "you will be smothering him with your love again before you know it."

The green-haired one blushes with embarrassment and looks toward the orb, and that's when she and everyone in the room notice the adorable sight of one ice fairy and one bat youkai sleeping on top of the orb to the left and right, both snoring softly while the elf fairy flies over their heads as though guarding their dreams.

Half an hour later Suwako is skating on the water of the lake and making several plants and flowers bloom on her path and wither away as soon as she's three feet away, enjoying her restored powers while Kanako sits as though in meditation on top of one of her sacred logs.

The nature goddess suddenly stops, her face turns stern, then the familiar voice of the yama of paradise echoes above the two goddesses heads, though doesn't seem to be heard elsewhere.

Eiki chuckles, then says "Moriya, it's been quite some time since I saw you like that."

Suwako smiles and nods rather respectfully, then says "I owe it all to that time-meddler."

The disembodied voice of the yama quickly replies "you do realize you are interfering with his punishment."

The blond goddess shakes her head and says "no, his punishment is the shrine maidens and you know it. Frankly I'm surprised that you'd want to see someone hurt so badly Eiki."

The yama quickly replies "er, no I'm not. I-I just think he's getting off the hook to easily."

Both Suwako and Kanako grin, then Eiki's voice groans and says "fine, I'm really mad at the twerp! Do you know how hard it was to have him become enlightened and then have him do something so... retarded! I WOULD have expected that of Kyo, but HIM?"

The blue-haired goddess sighs and says "blame that heart of his. It's far too soft."

There is a moment of pause before Shikieiki finally speaks up "then I will speed things up. He and the maidens **will** go through this earlier, but this HAS to happen! He has to see what his soft-hearted foolishness has caused, and you two better butt out of it, no matter how much faith he pours into you!"

Both goddesses nod in assent, then Kanako sternly says "like good gods we are, we will offer guidance."

In an equally stern tone Suwako adds "we will NOT interfere, you have our word. I too agree he needs to see the error of his actions."

The air echoes with a soft chuckle from the yama, then she asks "and you two... won't take advantage of this? Won't you try to separate your precious girl from him?"

Kanako shakes her head and shivers before saying "we learned our lesson. Best we not interfere again."

There is yet another moment of pause, then all three say in unison "_**agreed!**_"

* * *

Elsewhere at the Youkai Mountain, Drake arrives to Kasen's mansion/dojo but doesn't enter it.

He stands outside the main entrance and looks within the building as though expecting something.

The law of attraction works its karmic wonders and from behind him Kasen angrily says "there you are. I don't know what kind of guts you have, but coming back here after what you pulled off, after you read Gensokyo's records, really upsets me."

The godling turns around while saying "I was just trying to help that lady. She's going down a very dangerous path miss Ibara! I just wanted her to see the- wait."

The realization quickly hits the boy and he suspiciously asks "how do you know what happened? I knew you'd probably heard of the events, but it sounds to me like you know everything that's happened? Were you following me?"

From behind the hermit a girl sternly says "not quite", then reveals herself to the boy.

Momiji Inubashiri, the loyal white wolf tengu, has short white hair, red eyes, wolf ears, a white and fluffy tail, and wears a long-sleeved white shirt with separated sleeves held together by what look like black rings, a black skirt with red fire motif around the bottom, and holds a round white shield with a maple leaf designed on it on her left arm, and has a large silvery-black scimitar resting against her right shoulder.

The wolf looks sternly into the godling's eyes and says "you can probably tell by yourself but I'll explain regardless. I can see great distances and I saw all that happened over that temple."

Kasen crosses her arms as she adds "and I asked another tengu to investigate so I am well aware of almost everything."

Drake is already holding out his hand and concentrating energy on it as he glares at the white wolf tengu and says "you associate with tengu, the most cunning and vile of creatures? Kasen they will backs-"

"They are powerful allies to those willing to extend a hand!" interrupts the hermit.

The boy takes a step back, he can't believe any of this.

In his mind he relives a battle with several masked tengu that were trying hard to end his life, but as he stares at Momiji he feels more and more at ease, especially since this tengu doesn't wear a mask and seems to be a very honorable warrior.

He lowers his guard and looks to the ground to his right and asks "what is wrong with trying to help?"

The hermit quickly replies "from here it looked like you were trying to take over the place."

The white wolf adds "and from the reports you might as well have been. THAT is no way to _help_ anyone, Starstriker."

There is a moment of pause and although it looks like the boy is about to leave, he just kicks a small stone with his right foot.

Kasen sigh and places her hand on the right side of her face and says "look, just go to your room and meditate on this. I will try to help you, but this will be the last time. You attacked humans, twice, and that's something I just CANNOT allow, so don't think you'll go unpunished either."

The boy obediently turns around and walks into the building, and as they hear him walk up to the second floor, the white wolf asks "think we can speed up his leaving? I'm getting a very bad feeling from him."

The hermit sighs and says "not that I'm aware of, so for now keeping him in check is all we can do."

The girls look up the building for a moment, then turn their sights on each other and stare.

In a flash the tengu is pressing her sword against the hermit, who has said sword held by the sides with her clapped hands, and while grunting the tengu says "thank you for choosing tengu services. Please come again."

The hermit girl smiles and easily pushes the wolf-eared girl to the sky, then said girl waves back and very friendly-like says "see you later~!"

Kasen lets out a quick chuckle, then says to herself "yeah, later."

* * *

Meanwhile, at Damien's Makai, which is no longer has the mirror spell, the lord of the lands grunts and screams as though in a fight.

Akaizo, wearing the blue, long sleeved princely shirt and black pants, holds a sword made of pure darkness on his right hand and is relentlessly attacking the Makaian lord, while said lord uses his staff to block the black weapon while focusing on attacking with magic at the same time.

It's taking him some level of concentration to achieve a dangerous level of attacks and magic spells at once, while Akaizo seems to do the same without showing a single strand of effort from his part.

They are at the eastern mountain where the building there has lost the illusion of being a derelict shrine and now looks like a massive castle built with black bricks that seem to emanate an eerie ghoulish glow on the outside.

The fighters grunt loudly as they push each other away, land several feet away from each other, and glare into one another's eyes as black fireballs and greyish-green charms explode on the ground between them.

A bead of sweat rolls down Damien's forehead and he angrily says "if I wasn't this strong I would have died. Tone it down you fool!"

Akaizo furiously replies "you agreed to my methods of training and to that we will hold! I won't let you slip again!"

The Makaian lord growls inwardly while the goat-faced lion dragon thing face palms and says "you are LUCKY my wife and I played our parts right or Ail might have killed you! If you plan on challenging him again I am going to make SURE you are ready! Now, ON YOUR GUARD!"

The grunts, screams and explosions resume as the lord and his subject resume their training, but all stops quickly when Akaizo's blue-haired, dragon-tailed wife approaches the men and asks "still sore about your loss my lord?"

Lord and subject drop from the sky and land in front of the woman, and immediately the brownish-gold-furred Makaian rushes to give his wife a kiss.

Disgusted and annoyed from a distance, the dark boy points at the two and exclaims "I only lost because of your little game, but next time it's going to be different!"

The blue-haired woman sends a rather naughty smile at the lord, giggles, then says "you should be grateful. If it wasn't for us, that seemingly-weak boy would have had your neck."

The goat-humanoid steps forth and adds "and that is why I have to train you twice as hard. That way the next time he comes you can kill him, then go after this Kyo fellow you're after."

Damien places his fists on either side of his waist and clicks his tongue while looking to the ground to his left, then quickly turns his face at the woman and says "you two listen to me good. Next time I get that bastard in here you better take down that goddamned barrier!"

The woman's dark-blue eyes become slitted and her face turns feral as she seemingly calmly says "that is **our** territory! Not the previous lord, not you, not your conquerors will ever get even close to that place. It's OURS! Only Akaizo, me and OUR friends can enter!"

The Makaian lord gins vilely after hitting the woman's raw nerve, then says "well, unlike the previous lord I happen to know your name... missis-"

He mouths the words to avoid speaking them and smiles cynically at the double gasp from Akaizo and his wife, then the goat-man smiles and says "you most certainly are the best lord we've had in ages, lord Damien."

The Makaian lord smiles more naturally with his staff resting against his left shoulder, then commands "ATTACK!"

The training resumes as soon as Akaizo reaches his lord with darkness sword on hand and determination in his eyes.

* * *

The next morning, in Sanae's room at the Moriya Shrine, Ail wakes up feeling completely renewed and refreshed, lying on his futon without covers, and with Budou lying on the left of his chest and Cirno on the right.

He moves his eyes around when he hears Sanae snoring softly in the room, and that's when he remembers he IS in her room, and hoping to catch a good view of his sleeping girl the boy effortlessly sits up without disturbing either the fairy or bat youkai and looks to Sanae's bed.

**Covered.**

In his mind he curses the bed sheets but gives up arguing with his inner voice when he realizes that's the most obvious thing that could happen.

Still, not even a peek, it's so unfair, and that's when he hears Suwako's child-like voice as she says "he's over here."

Footsteps get closer and closer and he can hear Kanako saying "you took too darn long."

A man quickly replies "look, I got lost in that forest. Thing is, she's here. Can I go now?"

The sliding doors open up to Suwako and Eirin, and past them Ail can see as Kanako dismisses a wolf tengu.

The kero-chan goddess smiles and says "and it seems he's made a miraculous recovery. Morning sick-head."

The boy with the two little girls on his arms smiles, bows and says "morning Suwako-sama. Eirin-san, good morning."

The Lunarian smiles and bows, then says "so black sap huh? You are so lucky to be living amongst goddesses. The suppository used for curing that is..."

She smiles very friendly-like, something the dense boy doesn't really like, then she says "you know what, never mind that. Let's just have a look at you."

Behind him Sanae moans as she gets up and stretches out, then smiles and drowsily exclaims "Ail! You're awake!"

Glorious sight of Sanae's thin pink flowers pajamas with the open button at the chest, showing off some skin and making Ail blush, gulp and nervously reply "g-go-go-ood morning Sa-Sanae."

Suwako covers her wide grin and suppresses a chuckle, Kanako smirks with a glint escaping her right eye, then the Brain of the Moon happily says "well seems he's making an EXCELLENT recovery, but I'd still like to perform a quick check-up, just to be sure."

The two love-birds blush beat red when they realize what's happening, and Sanae quickly buttons her pajama.

A few moments later Budou and Cirno sleep on Sanae's bed while the pajama maiden joins the goddesses at watching Eirin run some tests on the dense one.

She holds his leg with both hands, keeping his knees between her hands, and in a sudden move she pushes the leg's joint together as hard as she can.

The boy springs up and raises his hands in pain, and although he's trying to scream the jolting sensation from the nerves on his knee prevent him from doing so, and as soon as the pharmacist lets him go he drops down and twitches around, wishing "please let me fall out of consciousness. Please, please, please, PLEASE!"

The Lunarian stares at his face and says "can someone lift his head up please?"

The maiden eagerly jumps into action and quickly uses her lap as a pillow for Ail.

She brushes his hair with her palm and his forehead with her fingers as she smiles at him and asks "better?"

The pain he was just feeling a moment ago is gone and all he can see and feel is the maiden and her touch.

With pink cheeks and a relaxed smile he nods, then Eirin says "oh he's relaxed quite a bit. Good, I can conduct the other examinations without sedating him. Ah, hormones. So wonderful."

While Eirin works her magic and Ail remains in his state of bliss, the maiden looks at the goddesses and asks "so why do you look like a child again lady Moriya?"

Suwako places her hands on the back of her head and casually answers "as much faith as he gives I can't keep that form forever, so I'm just conserving power like this."

Kanako whispers "showoff", to which the nature goddess sticks her tongue out as a response.

Ignoring the goddesses, whom are sticking their tongues out in various manners at the moment, the shrine maiden looks to the doctor and asks "so how's Ail-kun? Will he be alright?"

The silver-haired woman pours a few drops of Ail's blood inside a vial with green liquid, which immediately turns pink, then says "yes, he's as good as new. There's not a drop of poison in his body, though he needs to stay relaxed all morning. His joints are still a bit tense."

Sanae scratches his head, making him blush and smile wider, then says "I think we can do that much."

From behind her Budou asks "hey, where's gramma Ayalina? She should be here."

The maiden turns around to look at the little bat and with a smile says "well, good morning you. Miss fairy good morning to you too."

Cirno moans almost as though crying while rubbing her eyes, then drops on the bed again, and this happens to get Eirin's attention.

Meanwhile Kanako answers Budou's question "she's at Ail's home. Said she needed to get things ready for when her _baby_ went back."

Ail's lips wriggle and Sanae frowns at the chuckling goddesses, but all stop when the Lunarian exclaims "this fairy needs to be outside! Something drained her considerably and she doesn't seem to be recovering fast enough inside these walls."

The dense gold-hearted boy worriedly asks "will she be alright?"

Eirin picks up the ice fairy and coldly says "you just focus on relaxing young man. I'll take her outside so she can soak on some sunlight, now..."

Suwako walks out the room with the doctor and the held fairy, then said doctor turns her head toward Ail and Sanae and says "oh, and no sex for three days."

The boy and the girl quickly blush hard with embarrassment while Kanako and Suwako angrily say "hey, don't give them any funny ideas."

Eirin giggles and says "just kidding~ I just love saying that."

Angry scowls aim at the Lunarian doctor while one very curious Budou asks "mama, papa... what's sex?"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Myouren Temple there is chaos.

Shou is flying above the whole temple grounds in circles, Minamitsu keeps calling out inside and outside her ship, Ichirin and Unzan, along with Kyouko and the red-haired fairy rush around the grounds inside the walls, Nazrin and a large group of youkai and humans split into groups are searching outside the temple grounds, and Kogasa and Nue watch everything from under a tree over a safe distance, far away from the temple.

They can hear as the tiger youkai shouts "ANYTHING?" and the nun with the pink cloud-man shouts back "she's not here!"

They can hear as the tiger shouts back "then keep searching", and Nue sighs and asks Kogasa "so she's not gonna give up, huh?"

The karakasa youkai sighs sadly and replies "no. I don't blame her though."

Inside the temple, Byakuren's room has its door wide open and the insides are empty, save for a brown scroll that's been left wide open in the middle of the floor.

The scroll is a letter for the temple dwellers, and it reads: "Namusan. I am sorry for leaving so abruptly, but I have no other choice. I want to be alone and if I said anything to any of you that is the last thing you would have allowed me. At least I can explain my actions through writing."

As the letter writes out in the air we see how a party of three humans and two rabbit youkai are being led by the three tailed male nekomata searching for any possible hiding spots inside the main temple, where a newly placed jade Buddha statue has been placed on an altar in the very center of the stage of the prayer room.

As they search the large room, under the few chairs and for possible secret doors on the walls the letter continues to write itself out.

"Understand I thought about this thoroughly and tried to meditate hard for an answer, but I didn't achieve anything. Maybe I'm not as enlightened as I thought. I am going to leave the temple for a while to look for that answer. That boy, Drake, he was right about some things, and I _ne._ **NEED** an answer I cannot find within these walls. Please, _do not_ **DO NOT** come looking for me."

As the last sentence writes out we see the garden to the left of the main temple.

It's filled with all sorts of vegetables and a few flowers that are well-tended.

It is obvious that these are taken care of by Captain Murasa, and seeing as they are so moist in this summer weather it is possible that Kogasa is causing it to rain for these plants with her own spells.

Ichirin, Kyouko, the red-haired fairy that dresses like Shou, a black mouse youkai and a slender orange-fur-covered vixen youkai fly above the garden and scan the area with their eyes while the letter continues writes itself out.

"You would probably say to me _'But miss Hijiri, look at all the wonderful things we've done in such a short time!'_ I agree, we have done many great things, but what if Drake is right? What if we're upsetting the Buddha? I don't know. I tried to communicate with him and failed, _so __**maybe-**_ so he's probably right. But that's not an answer, that's just a question. I keep questioning myself and everything. That's why I had to do this. Please understand."

As the letter writes out we see Nazrin walking around with a very annoyed look and holding her dowsing rods, black rods with the North and West, and South and East symbols on their ends.

She and her group of youkai search near the outside of the temple's walls for anything that might lead them to Byakuren, while Shou flies close by with a pack of small night sparrows around her.

The mouse looks irritated toward the tiger and shouts "Toramaru, for crying out loud! Let's stop this already. We. are. not. gonna. FIND HER!"

Though agitated and extremely anxious, the tiger youkai manages to neutrally shout back "Naz please, just once more around the back! I-if we can't find anything then I'll call off the search. Please Nazrin."

The mouse youkai groans, raises her dowsing rods, then continues her futile search while the letter continues writing itself out.

"Shou, I beg of you, don't blow this out of proportion. I am fine and I WILL return to you. I just need a few days alone, nothing more. If the divinities will allow it I'll come back wiser and with my head held up high. If not... Well, I will return, regardless. Nazrin, be a dear and knock some sense into Shou if you see that it is needed. Again I apologize for doing this, but there truly is no other way for me. Much Love, Byakuren Hijiri."

As these last words write out and slowly fade away we return to Kogasa and Nue, and the undefined one has a look of fury in her face, even though she tries to act all cool about the mess.

The karakasa tries looking into the nue's face, but suddenly snaps her fingers and exclaims "wait a moment! I know someone that's lucky enough to run into miss Hijiri!"

The undefined one almost falls off the tree branch when the karakasa takes flight, then shouts "w-wait, WAIT! Kogasa, what are you- Ugh she's gone!"

She accommodates herself back on the tree branch and gazes at the karakasa as she flies full-speed toward the Youkai Mountain, then says to herself "tch, leaving me alone at such a crucial time."

She looks to the temple and says "and without Byakuren here those girls will kick me out for sure."

She turns her sights to the Youkai Mountain and growls softly, then says "it's all that Drake's fault. I should have killed him when I laid eyes on him."

She takes flight toward the mountain, keeping close to the ground to keep away from unfriendly eyes and says "he was headed there too. I'm going to find him, and when I do I'm going to make him sorry for messing with me."

An ominous black aura looms around the nue youkai as she growls while flying slowly toward her goal, her eyes fixed on the very last spot she saw the godling, before turning into something rather unidentifiable.

* * *

At the Hakurei Shrine Reimu wakes up with a most wondrous smile on her face, and an amazing scent that fills the air.

She is almost floating as she heads to the table, but stops mid-way when she notices Rika cooking in the kitchen and happily greets "good morning Rika! That smells delicious!"

The shrine maid twitches at the sound of her mistress' voice and manages to reply "m-my lady. G-good... um, morning. Um I, er, can see you had... another good dream. Right? Eep!"

A quick yelp escapes the maid's lips when she realizes her mistress is three inches away from her face and is staring with pity and longing.

Said maiden suddenly frowns and her eyes turn a bit glassy as she asks "Rika what's the matter? You've been so jumpy lately and so... sad. Why don't you tell your lady Reimu what's wrong?"

The maid gulps as she looks into her mistress' adorable eyes while thinking "_oh no! Rika you made her worry! Look at that face! She was so happy just a second ago and now is so sad! Bad maid! BAD! Uuu~ My lady I'm so sorry!_"

The maid takes a deep breath and recovers her natural smiling face, her bright light-blue eyes full of life and light, and with a very warm smile she bows to Reimu and says "my lady is so considerate of me. I am fine as you can see. Just, still a bit sleepy, I guess."

The maiden and her maid smile and giggle together, then red and white jump-hugs the maid and holds her tight while mentioned maid uses every bit of will in her to suppress her sudden twitch.

Reimu stops her hugging and gives Rika a friendly rub on the upper arms before turning around to the table and saying "I am so glad Rika. We've been so worried about you. You look so down and sad all the time now. We really don't like that and want you back."

The shrine maid watches as her lady almost floats to the table and gulps while listening to the maiden.

The maid now looks to the floor and thinks "_my dear lady Reimu, you truly are wonderful, worrying about me so much. But how should I tell her? How can I say to her that after these memories returned I feel as though I'm surrounded by those who wish to do me harm. That would break my dear lady's heart._"

Suzaku's voice sounds clear in Rika's mind as she says "_careful what you are thinking Rika-sama. You never know who could be reading to those thoughts._"

There is a short pause while the red bird flies through the open doors of the kitchen and glides toward Reimu, and while the maiden happily coos and scratches the bird's cheeks, the maid can hear the vermillion bird telepathically saying "_go ahead. Rika-sama now's the perfect opportunity to tell her about this. She can help you!_"

The shrine maid growls inward, turns around to tend to breakfast before it burns and angrily thinks "_no! I've been nothing but trouble to my lady and my friends! I can't do this to them!_"

Suzaku coos loudly when the shrine maiden finds her scratching point under her beak, and when Reimu stops she telepathically says "_woo-hoo-hoo, that felt good. Anyway, I understand how you feel and I will never force you to go against your will, but things like these tend to blow up over time. Please think about it and do the right thing, before you reach that critical point._"

There is another moment of pause while the bird flies to her perch, then she adds "_miss Reimu loves you very much Rika-sama, as do Tenshi, miss Koakuma, miss Youmu, mister Ail... Your friends will never think of you as a burden master. Trust in them please. Talk to them about this. You will be surprised._"

Rika twitches and gulps, a tear rolls down her cheek and sizzles when it touches the hot pot beneath her face, but she suppresses her desire to cry and continues with preparing breakfast, all while Reimu keeps looking outside and smiles.

The shrine maiden suddenly says "you know, in this dream he didn't have his wings, but I know it was him. He came from behind and embraced me, and we just watched the clouds pass by. It was magical."

The maid twitches again, gulps, and through a cracked voice she says "i-is that so? Well maybe that dream means he's closer than you think my lady. I'm... happy for you."

Not noticing the sadness in Rika's voice, the red and white continues staring outside and smiling as she giggles she replies "hu-hu, I hope you're right. I want to meet him, outside of my dreams."

While this conversation takes place, Suzaku hides her anxious face under her wing, pretending to be preening while thinking "_oh dear, she's got it far worse than I thought! That stupid boy._"

* * *

It's almost midday now, and at the living room inside the Moriya Shrine's living house Sanae sits on the couch next to Ail, and she has him lying on her lap and is continually brushing his hair with her hands.

His face is that of the most perfect description of bliss available, while her face is the most perfect description of peace and serenity ever seen.

Even Suwako, who watches them from outside, feels slightly jealous and wishes for such treatment, though Kanako looks more like she's ready to cut Ail's head off.

The dense-yet-sneaky boy raises his left arm to touch Sanae's chin, brushing his arm against her chest in the process, and all said maiden does is giggle and hold his arm against her face, making sure his arm is pressed against her womanhood.

Behind kero-chan are Budou and Phredia, and the bat youkai sticks her tongue out in disgust and says "blwe, mushy stuff. I don't want to see all that stuff any longer so I'll be going to the village, k?"

Yasaka turns to stare at the little bat and asks "so you're just going to leave that fairy unattended and all on her own? What will your papa say to that, I wonder?"

To Budou's direct right, on a patch of frozen flowers under a tree sleeps Cirno, who seems to be on the slow path to recovery.

A drop of sweat rolls down the bat's forehead as she groans softly and says "auu, you're right. But I don't wanna look at that anymore! It's cute, but it's just too much!"

The Moriya goddess chuckles nervously and in a low tone says "three straight hours **is** a bit too much."

Unlike the rest, Phredia looks quite happy and sighs lovingly as she stares at the couple.

Either way it doesn't matter to Kanako, who lifts the ice fairy off the ground and says "alright, let's go to the lake. That way we won't have to look at them anymore."

Suwako and Budou nod simultaneously while Phredia seems to silently complain, yet follows after the goddess and the bat with her little arms dangling downward and her face turned to the ground.

Two minutes afterward Kogasa lands in front of the donation box and calls "Sanae-san, I need you to find Hijiri for me!"

She looks around and waits for an answer, but she gets none so she calls again "Sanae-san~! Are you here?"

This time she's replied by the sound of the wind and the rustling of leaves of the bushes and trees.

Seeing as it's not really the kind of reply she was hoping for she asks herself "where could she be?" and heads toward the living house of the shrine.

Her umbrella's eye peeks through the corner of the open door, followed promptly by her own eyes, and just like that her face gets filled with infinite curiosity.

Still on that couch Ail and Sanae giggle away while whispering sweet nothings at each other.

The boy manages to lift up long enough to tickle her ear with his whisper, then after a giggle the maiden forces him back on her lap and continues to enjoy playing with his hair.

The adorable karakasa youkai stands right in front of them, staring with great curiosity before saying "if you're trying to eat Sanae-san you need to go for the arms first."

The maiden yelps, the boy hiccups and falls on the floor, then the maiden angrily shouts "Kogasa! What the hell are you doing here?"

The karakasa youkai screeches and jumps away, curls up into a ball, covers herself with her umbrella, then nervously and rapidly says "a-a-a-I'm looking for miss Hijiri and thought I'd ask you for help because you're very lucky at finding stuff you're not really looking for!"

The green-haired girl stands up and exclaims "what are you talking about youkai! Do I have to exterminate you again?"

The dense one raises his head and exclaims "Byakuren's missing?", then looks at Sanae and exclaims "we have to go and help!"

The maiden's expression completely changes to calm after her man speaks, then says "alright let's try and help, but you better not strain yourself mister! You're still recovering!"

Before the dense one answers he stares at the karakasa who has recovered already, as she says to Budou "oh yes, Ail's spirit is VERY delicious. Still I like variety, so I try to scare other humans too."

When the dense one sees the interest in the little bat's eyes he quickly hops on his feet and says "okay now! Kogasa, no more giving her ideas, Budou, me and Sanae will be leaving now, so-"

Before he can finish, the ice fairy clinging on his back says "you're not going anywhere without me! I promised to take care of you!"

The green haired maiden angrily says "get away from my man!", and Budou says "then I'm coming too!", and before they know it, there is an ice fairy, a karakasa, a fruit bat, and a shrine maiden talking at the same time.

Ail can't pick up anything they are saying and he knows saying something will only make things worse, so instead he opens a gap straight to the Myouren Temple, waits for the girls to notice it and quiet down, then sighs and says "there, we can all go."

Without further argument, the girls jump inside the gap one-at-a-time, Phredia flying out of nowhere and jumping on Budou's shoulder as she enters said gap, then the dense one sighs, shakes his head, then jumps in.

* * *

At the Myouren Temple Shou paces left and right in front of the jade Buddha statue in the main temple while Ichirin, Nazrin and Kyouko watch her go on and on.

The tiger youkai stops, sighs, then says "ok, I can do this. I can take care of things while Hijiri's gone. I mean, nobody wants to seal her so she'll be back, and I can take care of things while-"

Ail's gap opens up and the girl shouts "**holy Bishamonten's mother, an attack!**"

Kyouko immediately repeats "holy Bishamonten's mother, an attack!", then sighs and says "auu, I need to stop that."

Kogasa, Sanae, Cirno, Budou, Phredia and Ail jump out of the gap one-by-one in front of the shivering tiger youkai with the lance, then the dense boy smiles and says "Shou, how are you? Say, what's with that stance?"

The tiger girl furiously swings her weapon in the air while crying "**don't do that, you fat bloated idiot-head!**"

Kyouko rapidly cups her hands and shouts "don't do that, you fat bloated idiot-" but stops before finishing, gulps, takes many deep breaths, then says "ok, it's alright. It's all goo- **IDIOT-HEAD!** Grr, dammit!"

When the yamabiko looks toward the tiger again she gasps at the sight of the green armpit maiden threatening said tiger with the gohei to the neck.

The green-haired shrine maiden glares into Shou's eyes and points at Ail as she sinisterly says "you better watch it Toramaru. We are here to help because HE wanted to."

Sweating and with a purple face, the Bishamonten disciple nods rapidly and whimpers "s-sorry. J-just nervous. Sorry!"

The dense one with the heart of gold places his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder and shakes his head after getting her attention, thus making her back away from the clearly distressed tiger-girl.

After the girls calm down the dense one asks "alright what I understand so far is that Byakuren left, now what exactly happened? What caused her to leave?"

Shou looks around and stops at Ichirin, then at Kogasa, and finally at Ail, then takes a deep breath and says "let me get you some tea. This is going to be a long story."

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's basement corridor, Leon opens his eyes just slightly as he looks to his left while standing straight against the wall, beside him is Sakuya doing the same as he, and to their left is Remilia, who seems to be overlooking something with great interest.

In front of the library doors is Koakuma with a look of horror and dread and seems as though just about ready to start crying.

On the floor is Lina, sitting on top of Patchouli's back and pulling back on her left leg.

The purple bean sprout grunts loudly to try and ignore the awful pain she's feeling right now but suddenly screams and punches the rug with her right fist in failure.

The vampire chuckles, then says "you may apply more pressure."

The Kori girl immediately pulls a little harder and demands "you will let her go! She's practiced VERY hard for this and I won't let you interfere with her!"

The librarian immediately screams "NO!", so Lina pulls on a fist-full of the librarian's hair and says "you have twenty-point-thirty seconds away from having a horrible self-induced headache! Make up your mind!"

The smiling Remilia bends down to get closer to Patchouli's ear and says "you know I'm very amused here. That's why I stopped Leon from helping you and why I won't stop her from hurting you~."

Koakuma cries out "Lina it's alright, that's enough! Stop, stop, you're hurting miss Patchouli!"

Said librarian suddenly groans in extreme pain, her left eyes turns to a star and she clenches her teeth tight as the little girl on her back pulls the chunk of hair toward the magician's own ankle in a clear attempt to tie them together.

Realizing the world of pain she's about to enter the purple haired librarian with the large rack screams "KYAH~ FINE! I give, I GIVE!"

Relief immediately covers Patchouli's entire body as soon as Lina releases her, then along with a long sigh says "she can go to the shrine if she wants to. Mukyu~" then faints.

* * *

Back at the Myouren Temple, after hearing the whole story Ail scowls with fury as he asks "so that god-wannabe is the cause?"

Shou nods and looks to the ground while trembling and adds "her face... it was a very painful sight."

She looks up at Ail, Sanae to his left, and Budou and Cirno to his right, then says "she asked me to wait for her... and though it pains me to do so, that is exactly what I'll do this time. However she didn't say not to ask for help on this matter. So?"

The dense one nods and springs to his feet, then exclaims "you just leave it to us. I am sure we'll be able to find her. I cannot promise to bring her back, but we'll-"

The green-haired maiden clears her throat to stop her boyfriend and says "you are still recovering mister. Don't go making promises you can't be keeping."

The boy sighs and face-palms, then looks at the maiden and says "don't worry. We'll eventually fall, crash, explode, or just pop around wherever she may be. After we find her we'll have a small chat, then come back home and eat some tempura."

The bat youkai giggles and says "papa's hungry again.", then the ice fairy asks "shouldn't we eat something then? Maybe some berries."

Ail looks back at the girls and says "but we just had tea."

Sanae walks over to her boy, places her hands on his shoulder, and after a light kiss on the cheek she says "Ail-kun is too kind. Fine, but you're not getting out of my sight until I am SURE you are better."

The boy chuckles while looking back at the maiden and says "but I'm feeling so much better now."

Shou stares at the couple with a longing face and thinks "_if I could have that kind of relation with Hijiri... *sigh*_" then shakes her head to snap back to reality, lightly bows her head and says "a-um, alright then! We are eternally grateful for your help."

Ichirin gets closer to the boy and his girlfriend, then says "but before you start your search, you better go check on Kyo. He and Luna did get hit pretty hard."

The dense one and his girl stare at the nun but before either one can ask, said nun blushes, rushes to her room over at the corridor and slams the door shut.

Meanwhile, at the Youkai Forest, Nue has lost her way but seems fixed on finding her goal, the god-in-training, Drake Starstriker.

As she flies through, several fairies see her and scramble in fright, probably after seeing something that's scary to them, though it's not just the fairies but the many youkai that live there as well.

The undefined girl doesn't really give a damn.

She's not leaving this place until she's found that boy, and this fact becomes more evident with her straight and resolute face, and the raging fire in her eyes.

She's been following the sound of the river for some time now, and she's starting to hear the roaring sound of the waterfall when she als starts hearing two voices.

The nue youkai wastes no time and rushes straight toward the sound of the voices, then drops on the ground and hides behind a tree and several bushes.

Next to the riverbank are two girls.

One has blue hair tied to twin tails with red bobbles, blue eyes, and wears a light blue long-sleeved shirt with pockets on the arms, a white shirt underneath, a long light-blue skirt with several pockets, light-blue wellington boots, a green backpack with a golden key on the front of the strap, and a green hat.

The other one looks like a human female on her late twenties, with golden hair tied to a bun and lime-green eyes, and wearing a red business dress with a white shirt underneath, elegant red shoes, golden round earrings, and a pair of elegant glasses.

The woman places her right hand on the blue haired girl's shoulder and says "please don't go there lady Nitori. Every time you do you get very sad."

The girl called lady Nitori replies "Julia, it's alright. I think I can handle it better this time."

Nue smiles and thinks "this is perfect. The kappa should know this place better than I do, so I just need to follow this one around until we get to the mountain!"

After a long pause between the girls the little kappa says "well, I'm going to the mountain now. Please take care of things as always, and if you see grandpa make sure you tie him up. I need to ask him where has he been going."

The woman called Julia nods and says "it will be done my lady. Have a safe trip then."

The nue youkai can't believe her luck.

Not only is this kappa going to lead her out of the forest, but straight to the mountain as well.

She looks around the tree and thinks "_gotta make sure I don't lose sight of her- huh?_"

Just as she thinks that, the little kappa starts her walk and slowly turns invisible, save for the odd silhouette of her frame left in the air.

Nue shrieks in her mind then rushes after the kappa in order to not lose what little sight of her remains, but at the same time has to make sure she isn't seen.

And off she goes after the kappa in hope of finding wherever is it that Drake is hiding.

* * *

After an hour of following the invisible kappa and scaring fairies and youkai alike, the nue youkai finds herself at the backside of the mountain, hiding from the girl behind a large rock.

Here, at the base of the mountain, the little kappa switches off her optical camouflage and kneels beside a stone that looks like a slab on the dirt with something written on it.

As Nitori passes her hand around the slab Nue thinks "_ah, I can feel that bastard. He's close, so... huh? W-wait... why is-?_"

The undefined one finds herself unable to turn away when that sweet-looking girl starts to sob.

Curious, she decides to stay, staring with wonder at the scene in front of her.

She can hear as the little Nitori sobs and says to herself "I don't get it. Why do I keep doing this? I know you were a very important friend, but I can't remember your name or anything. Not your face, your voice. It's so weird."

The little kappa's backpack opens up on its own and a large pair of gloved mechanical hands rise from within with a cluster of red flowers, and promptly slither in front of the girl and diligently hand said flowers over.

Nitori thanks her mechanical hands and gently places the flowers in front of the slab and says "I don't understand why I keep coming here even though I don't remember you, and I don't understand why do I feel so sad whenever I am here. All I know is I made a vow to come and see you. Were you really that important?"

The little blue-haired girl sniffles as she rubs her face with her forearms, and that's when Nue whispers to herself "why the heck did I just waste my time with this?", then jumps up eight feet to the next rock.

She looks down one more time and stares at the girl, then shrugs and says to herself "whatever. If it hurt so much she shouldn't even come here, but if that's what she wants... tch, been hanging around Hijiri too much. Just move it Houjuu."

At that very same moment, higher into the mountain, Kasen walks out the courtyard of her house, but before she's all the way out she turns around and shouts "just remember, just make sure not to destroy my dojo while I'm out, and if you go out again, DON'T attack youkai."

From the second floor Drake shouts back "fine, but if they attack first I'm not hesitating!"

The hermit clicks her tongue and grumbles to herself "honestly", then shouts back "hesitate a little! It'll do you good!"

And with that she's off on foot to wherever is that she'll end up next.

At that very same moment, at the Human Village, more specifically at Kyo's house, the front door of said house bursts open and out comes Kyo holding Ail in a powerful headlock while grumbling "so it's fine if we have our fight now then. You are recovering, I am recovering, it's fair!"

The dense boy grunts but can't speak up, and just as Sanae walks out the maiden says "he's not fighting you now because he is RECOVERING, so either you let him go or I will make you let him go."

Before the bulky muscled boy with bandages slightly visible through his black muscle shirt can reply, Budou flies on his neck and starts punching his head while angrily saying "large brother lets go of papa! He is sick you bully!"

Said muscled boy releases Ail and grabs the little bat, pulls her off him, makes sure she's in front of him and looking at his scowling eyes, then says "I exercise daily! I am NOT fat!"

Cirno and Medicine walk out of the house, then the poisonous doll chuckles, stares mischievously at the boy and says "well with all those pastries you keep eating every day those jelly rolls of yours will be the talk of the tengu."

The little bat finds herself in the safe hands of the maiden while Kyo performs several sit-ups while repeating "I'm-not-fat-I'm-not-fat!"

Luna now stand in front of the small party with bandages all over her head and right arm, bows her head, then says "sorry about Kyo. That beating Drake gave us hurt his pride far more than his butt. Don't worry though, the fatso will keep doing sit-ups wile you head to... where was it that you were starting your search."

Ail smiles proudly as he places his hand on his chest and says "where all the weird ones end up when in times of need, when they are lost, or just happen to be at the time. The Hakurei Shrine."

A drop of sweat rolls down Sanae's left temple as she nervously smiles and says "hey, hey, don't let Reimu hear you say that."

The boy stands heroically with his fists on his hips and loudly declares "RIGHT! I want to live past today! Now, off to the shrine!"

The little bat youkai tugs Ail's pants and says "um, papa is it ok if I stay here? I want to browse around the shops."

The dense one stares at Budou, starts shivering, smiles in a disturbing manner, then says "um, er, s-sure. B-but you'll be safe, right? Um, don't you want me to come with-?"

The little bat shakes her head hard and says "no, no, no! I can take care of myself! Besides, Phredia is with me!"

The elf fairy quickly flies out of the little girl's chest and presents herself to the boy with a bow, and before the dense one complains, his girlfriend taps him on the head with her gohei and smiles as she says "of course you can sweetie. Just be good and if anything happens you come here to Kyo's house or the Hakurei shrine, alright? Oh, and be sure to tell people about how great Yasaka-sama and Moriya-sama are!"

The teal-haired cutie with the purple pupil-less eyes smiles, nods, then confidently says "it will be okay! Um, and what would I say?"

Clearly irritated Ail face-palms while thinking "_oi, she and her faith-gathering. Ah, I still love her._"

* * *

Koakuma, Leon and Lina exit the Scarlet Devil Mansion through the front door, and as they walk toward the front gate the little devil says "well I'm still mad at you. What you did to lady Patchouli-sama was unforgivable!"

Lina chuckles mischievously and whispers to her brother "she's so cute when she's being loyal", then says "but now you get to fight for Rika without hindrance."

The little devil raises her head wings as she gulps, then relaxes, chuckles nervously, then says "f-fine, I'll forgive you this time, but if you do that again I'll punish you."

The little girl is about to jump-hug her pet devil when said devil expresses wonder and asks "miss Meiling, where did you get that cat?"

The cute and sexy gatekeeper smiles as she says "he just came over here and refuses to leave, so I'm just holding him for now."

Pressed against her well-endowed chest is one happy-looking black cat with brown stripes on the belly, glowing yellow eyes and three tails.

It looks up at the little devil and meows contently, then purrs loudly when the gate guard starts scratching its head.

Leon stands on the tip of his toes to get a better look and says "aww, he's cute.", then Lina quickly adds "but don't let him inside. Could be a bad idea."

The adorable dragon youkai stares curiously at the twins but before she can ask the sexy devil takes flight while saying "let's go you guys. Move it or you stay behind!"

Lina quickly grabs Leon by the arms and lifts off, shouting "wait! Wait my little beauty! You need my assistance!"

Meiling looks at the cat pressed between her luscious pearls and asks "what was all that about?"

The cat meows his answer while sneering at the twins as they catch up to Koakuma.

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, after just seventeen minutes of flying, Ail, Sanae and Cirno arrive at the front of the shrine and the boy calls "oy~ Reimu! We came over to-GAH!"

There is a massive explosion right besides the large gate that lifts an unholy amount of dust in the air, then it's followed by another, lighter explosion right in front of the shrine's living house's left entrance.

Rika with Suzaku on her shoulder, and Reimu holding Tenshi by the collar of her shirt, quickly run out of the shrine to see what's going on, then Reimu shouts "what's with all the racket out here?"

In front of her just under the broken tree right in front of them are one burned up Marisa and a dirt-covered Hatate, and from the looks of things it seems they crashed in mid-air.

The shrine maiden suddenly exclaims "whoa, I think I heard someone out in front just before the blast!", then drops Tenshi on the ground like garbage and rushes to the front with Suzaku behind her, while Rika silently kneels down to help the crashed girls.

Though she does this, in her eyes it's obvious she's far more distressed than in the morning, and instead of actually assisting the girls she just kneels beside them and stares to make sure they are breathing.

Reimu rushes to the front of the shrine but stops when the smoke cloud gets too thick, so she covers her mouth with her right sleeve and shouts "is anybody there?"

She closes her left eye and squints her right eye to try and look through the dust without hurting herself, and as the cloud dissipates she can make out a rather large and odd frame.

Again she calls "hey, is anybody there?", then the green-haired maiden shouts back "this shrine is far too lively today Hakurei!"

The smoke finally dissipates enough for Reimu to see Sanae holding Ail by his arms and Cirno ducking under them both while shivering.

The red and white maiden smiles at the sight, sighs with relief, then says "phew, you are safe. I thought those idiots had crashed against a villager or something."

The Moriya maiden angrily shouts "HEY! They almost pancaked Ail!"

The boy just smiles as he waves at Reimu, while the little ice fairy slowly lifts her trembling head and says "I-I-I'm-mm n-not scared! J-j-just b-b-battle p-pose!"

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere at the Youkai Mountain, Nue finds herself lost again, however she looks determined to move forward and find her target.

She doesn't care if they can see her or not anymore, all the wants is to find Drake already and kill him.

She reaches a rather odd point in the mountains where it looks like she's on the ground, with some trees growing quite large on what she knows are rocks, and that's when her face is taken by the most vile smile she can muster.

She hisses and clicks her tongue then says "he's here. It's HIM alright. That disgusting energy of his is oozing all around this place!"

She walks further toward the odd dirt floor and as she walks around the edge of the rising mountain she spots Kasen's dojo, and her vile smile turns even more sinister as her lips split and her jagged teeth show, even going as far as biting her own lower lip until it starts bleeding a bit.

She licks her own blood, swipes the rest off with the back of her fist, then whispers "I found you, you god-wannabe."

Her black trident appears magically on her right hand, and as a blue snake with red eyes slithers up to Nue's arm the youkai girl whispers "you'll pay for messing with me Starstriker."

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine grounds, Marisa and Hatate look more beat up than when they crashed, and with a tear dangling under her left eye the witch says "you didn't have to shoot me like that."

The tengu girl adds "and I didn't do, like, anything either. This idiot crashed on ME!"

The witch grabs the crow by the collar of the neck and presses her face against the tengu's while saying "you're the one that got in my way when I was just arriving!"

The crow tengu smiles angrily as she grabs the witch by her vest and says "you're the one flying around like a raging lunatic!"

Surprisingly enough, out of all the characters in the shrine, it is Rika from the kitchen that shouts "shut up you two! You are upsetting my lady!"

Even Cirno looks frightened after hearing such an outburst, but the attention quickly turns to Reimu to thrashing-Sanae's right, who says "she's going through rough times so let her be. Now Marisa..."

Ignoring the blue and white being held back by Ail, the red and white maiden turns to her friend and asks "what was that about Alice?"

Ignoring the crying tengu to the left, the witch smiles as she says "like I said, I went to visit miss loner because I hadn't seen her in a while, but when I went to her house everything was white inside. And when I tried to get in I was attacked by holy magic."

Reimu quickly asks "holy magic? Are you SURE it was holy?"

The witch looks a little annoyed as she says "hey, I'm an expert in magic! I can tell light from holy on a whim!"

The red and white nods and calmly says "sorry, just wanted to be sure. Ail, Sanae, I'll need your help. I'm pretty sure I know what's going on-Ail you can let her go now."

The two love-birds are a sight for sure.

Ail was supposed to be holding Sanae back from murdering Marisa and Hatate, but now is just holding her lightly from behind as they lock lips, and although this did help calm the raging maiden down, the spectacle has caused Tenshi to nosebleed out of consciousness, and for the rest to look bloody uncomfortable with pink cheeks and all.

Reimu however, stares on and thinks "_j-just like my dream. Sanae, you lucky- Why can't I have my partner with me?_"

The sucking of the faces suddenly stop when the couple realize they are being awkwardly stared at and soon the two separate while mumbling incoherently as though trying to come up with some lame excuse.

The green-haired maiden manages to shake it off, clear her throat, and say "um, so, holy stuff. Y-yeah, Ail and I should help."

They notice the angry red-cheeked glare from Reimu, and noticing this the black and white witch chuckles and says "don't worry girl, that dream boy will get to you soon, ze."

The red and white blushes, lowers her head, then grumbles while heading to the shrine, probably to pick some tools.

She stops mid-way when she hears the expression of surprise form everyone, then looks toward the direction of the Forest of Magic.

From there several beams of light fly through the air and set themselves above some of the houses at the village, and one on top of the shrine.

Reimu stares up at the light, sighs as she slaps her thighs with her hands, then monotonously says "well, we better take care of THIS incident now. Sleeping with light as bright as that is going to be a pain."

The dense one looks at his girlfriend, then at Tenshi, who happens to be recovering from her earlier fit, then asks "is this really an incident?"

* * *

At Kasen's dojo, Drake is currently in meditation on the third floor, next to the dusty telescope and the open round window.

The feeling of heat now takes the whole left side of his body as he and some pieces of lumber are sent flying toward the other side of the room, but before crashing on the floor the other side of face slams against the wall on the other side of the room, and finally he falls.

Being a seasoned warrior Drake quickly gets up on his feet with his fist at the ready as he frowns toward the large opening on the wall that used to have the round window with an old telescope next to it.

The sight of surprise and horror that now fill his face can only be explained because of the figure standing in front of said hole.

It's a woman with long blonde hair that reaches her lower back, a blue left eye, and is wearing a white ribbon tied to the left of her head, and broken white rags that flail about with the wind, doing little to cover the gorgeous but blood-stained and wounded female body.

Her right eye is missing, replaced by what looks like a half-wood-half-glass purple eyeball that's stained in blood that flows down the eye-socket, and said woman holds an ancient-looking bloodied scythe on her hands.

Drake stares at the woman, his guard is dropped, his composure is lost, and now cries and trembles like a frightened child at the terrifyingly beautiful figure in front of him.

He falls on his butt and tries to crawl back through the wall as he whimpers incoherently, and to this the undefined Nue Houjuu, hiding in a shroud of dark clouds, smiles with endless satisfaction.

The boy manages to calm down enough to look back up at this woman and speak with a cracking whimpering voice "Mi... Mina? Wh-What happened? **WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?**"

Nue covers her mouth with her hand as she chuckles, then says to herself "aww how sweet. He's seeing a loved one. I wonder if she's in pain, or maybe dead? Well no matter. This will make things EASIER!"

She flies straight at the boy and thrusts her trident on the left side of his chest.

To Drake it looks like the woman has just swung her scythe and has stuck the tip of the blade through his being, but he gasps when he feels a different kind of pain to the one expected.

The shrouded nue youkai swings the boy above her head then thrusts him downward, breaking through the floor to the corridor in front of the bathroom on the floor below, and with the momentum she thrusts him through the second floor all the way to the ground floor, where her momentum is stopped by one heck of a solid base.

The pain is evident in the godling's face as the one he believe to be his love sinks her weapon harder into him, possibly trying to break through the floor.

He groans and gasps before finally shouting "MINA! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? GAH! MY LOVE!"

The shrouded youkai shivers violently after hearing those words, then makes the mistake of speaking loudly "ugh, how DISGUSTING! Calling me your love? SICK!", and although she does sound like a chirping bird to him, the boy can hear her voice, though faintly.

As she says this she winds him up along with her weapon then flick him off toward the unused kitchen with all her strength.

He grunts loudly as his body breaks through the wall and smashes against the dusty oven, and groans as a pile of lumber falls all over his back, covering him up just slightly.

The horrible beauty follows after the boy and quickly smashes her weapon against the pile of lumber on the floor, but to her surprise the only thing under there is the boy's vest.

She frantically looks around the kitchen and shrieks out loud when a thick white beam rams her on the back and slams her against the wall.

Drake jumps from the other side of the hole made by his body and immediately jumps on the destroyed figure of his beloved Mina, grabs the woman by the back of the neck and pulls her backward, then furiously says "you are NOT my Mina you ghoul!"

He pulls on the neck of the woman and threatens to rip her head and spine right off, so Nue has to cancel her shroud of deception and cut the boy's face with one of her bladed red wings to successfully escape.

Drake doesn't even flinch, even though the wound on his cheek is deep, but he still releases the girl then he remains glaring with hatred toward the revealed youkai in black and furiously whispers "you bitch. Using Mina's image to weaken my resolve. I am going to torture you before sending you to HELL for this!"

The nue youkai stretches her back but quickly turns around to return Drake's hateful glare with her own and says "you're the one that's going to hell! Thanks to you I no longer have a home! I will kill you and feed your soul to those hungry fishes over at Sanzu!"

The boy grins as he raises his arms to chest-height while a light surrounds his forearms to make a pair of gauntlets with clawed fingers, then says "so lady Hijiri DID listen to me! I knew it! She's seen the light!"

The girl's response to that is her trident aimed at the boy's face, then both rush to each other with a roar.

* * *

Nue tries stabbing Drake on the ribs again, but the boy grabs the pointy end of her trident with his magical gauntlet then grabs her left shoulder and sinks those magical claws into her.

She grunts as she tries pushing that trident through his hand while at the same time he keeps squeezing her shoulder.

There is a crack from the nue's shoulder and the girl yelps out in pain, so the boy takes the chance and pushes the trident away and sinks the other set of claws into her face, lifts her above his head, slams her on the floor once, then throws her toward the front wall where she crashes on her back.

She's now bleeding through her broken shoulder, the cuts on her forehead and right temple, and **he's** already on the attack, but the bloodied youkai isn't a quitter.

Even though in pain she lifts a spell card on her left hand and shout "Nue Sign, Mysterious Snake Show!"

Green snakes slither from all holes, corners and dark spots in the room toward Drake and all seem eager to take a bite right out of him, but the god-in-training isn't a quitter either.

He attacks those snakes closest to him with the magic gauntlets and finds out they are all illusions, so filled with overconfidence he ignores the snakes to attack the girl.

Big mistake.

One of the hundreds of snakes jumps and bites his left arm, and as soon as he groans in pain several other snakes jump to him and take a bite.

Not satisfied with this Nue walks over to the boy and lunges her trident into his ribs and lifts his snake-covered body off the ground, and as she swings him upside-down to the floor she shouts "DIE WORM! What the fu-?"

To her surprise and dismay, the boy turns around midway to the ground, lands on his feet, takes Nue's weapon, pulls it out of himself and lifts her off the ground with her own trident.

From outside it is seen as the nue is thrust through the wall and tossed like a rag-doll on to the ground in front.

As soon as the snakes vanish the blood-covered boy runs after the nue youkai and punches her on the face just as she gets up.

Nue manages to back-flip on her feet with the momentum of the impact, lifts another spell card, then shouts "Nightmare of Hieankyou!"

Everything turns dark for Drake, who's entire body bleeds from the countless snake-bites, and now he finds himself trapped by laser beams and is forced to fly a few feet off the ground.

For a moment it seems as though nothing will happen, but a massive white beam appears from his left and threatens to finish him off, but he's not one to just sit back and give up.

He claps his gauntlets together and chants as though in prayer, to which Nue scoffs at, and right as the red beams move and the large white beam is just about to touch him, the boy lets out a primal scream and the white beam is absorbed into his body.

Still screaming, Drake unleashes the accumulated energy and engulfs the whole area with light, canceling Nue's spell completely.

Shocked and amazed, the youkai girl stares on with her mouth open and asks "h-how? How did you do that?"

Her response is the air being pushed out of her guts by one powerful punch on the stomach by the godling, and long before she's able to recover the boy grips her hair and throws her face-first to the ground.

As he falls back down he aims another punch to the nue's raised bottom, but instead he is met by the staff of her trident through his stomach and the smile of the real Nue to the right.

Bloodied, beaten, bruised and almost humiliated, the girl in black glares at the skewered boy, snarls, and speaks through her teeth "you can't win! Make me bleed all you want, I'll just keep coming back for more! Now just accept defeat and I might kill you quicker."

The boy's body convulses a few times, making Nue smile upon her humiliating defeat over this so-called god, but quickly frowns when she realizes he is laughing, even though he's like a skewered boar on a stake.

He lifts his vile smiling face to the girl and says "you monsters are all the same. You wait for me to lower my guard and attack me on the back. Well I've learned my lesson."

He holds the trident and slowly pushes himself off it while saying "I don't care what the others say, you _youkai_ are all monstrous abominations! You are evil and MUST be purified! Make me bleed all you want, I'll just keep coming back for more. Though unlike me, _girly_, you CAN'T siphon magic!"

The girl gasps and flicks Drake off her weapon, throwing him several feet away from herself, and with a terrified face she raises another spell card and nervously shouts "G-Grudge Bow! Th-The Bow of G-Genzami Yorimasa!"

A bow appears on the hands of the undefined girl and she immediately shoots a glowing arrow to the air, then said arrow splits up to several more arrows that disappear into the clouds.

Just as Drake starts his walk to her countless arrowheads of light rain down between him and the girl, and although he absorbs them with ease he also discharges the excess energy.

Nue smiles, having learned something rather interesting just now, then fires several more arrows to the air, making the rain of arrowheads intensify.

He starts to run to her while absorbing and discharging energy, she fires another set of arrows to the air and intensifies her attack; he's too close, she aims the next arrow straight at him, the two are just inches away from each other, and from the mountain's distance Nitori can see the massive smoke cloud from an explosion at the dojo, which is quickly followed by a harsh tremor that makes her screech and duck for cover.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the safety of the Human Village, Budou and Phredia walk around the village's shopping district while looking around the several fruit kiosks, an ornaments shop, and a small doll's shop.

With a satisfied yet confused look on her face the little bat youkai throws away an empty grape vine and groans.

The elf fairy taps the bat on the head, then the teal-haired girl says "I can't decide what I want to see. Those glass things mama loves so much, or just go to the doll store and get a new doll."

The fairy flies in front of the girl's face and shakes her hand around with a raised finger, as though reprimanding the little girl. Budou looks away and says "aww, I know I shouldn't spend all my money at once. That's why I'm choosing only one thing."

The little fairy slouches in defeat and flies after the bat as she walks toward the doll shop, but stops when a boy in very modern clothing walks out of the ornaments shop with a glass figure that looks like Sanae.

Budou gasps and opens her wings, then exclaims "that looks just like mama!"

The boy screams with fright and falls on his butt, smashing his Sanae figure on the ground.

The little bat bends down and says "aww, you smashed mama to the ground."

She shivering mass of a modern boy crawls backward away from Budou and shouts "stay away from me!"

The little bat gasps and sobs when she looks at the frightened boy, but she just stops and remains in place as though frozen, though her wings keep flapping on her own and her eyes start to glow a bit.

The boy hyperventilates as he stumbles on his feet, and when finally on them he runs to the center of the town, screaming "YOUKAI~! There's a youkai~!"

The little elf fairy seems a bit concerned about the ordeal but quickly calms down when she notices the people around them don't really seem to mind, but that's when she notices a rather vile smile on her little youkai's face.

The bat drools a bit and quickly cleans her dribble with the back of her forearm, then whispers "that... was good. So... tastyyyyy~"

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Koakuma and the Kori twins have just arrive at the living house when Tenshi says "like I said, she's locked herself up inside her own greenhouse and won't come out."

The little devil shouts "WHAT? Well why don't you go and get her out so we can fight over here properly!"

From the table, Hatate, who looks like she's been crying recently, shouts "just DROP IT ALREADY!"

Koakuma shouts back "well fine, I won! I'm going OVER THERE and cheering her up on my-"

From the greenhouse Rika shouts "SHUT UP! You are disturbing miss Reimu!"

The little devil literally swallows her well-prepared and though out speech, a tear rolls down her left cheek, then she whimpers "R-Rika onee-chan yelled at me?"

The devil sobs so Hatate extends her arms, which Koakuma accepts immediately, then both girls start to sob as they try to comfort each other, the tengu saying "there, there *sob*. She yelled at me too."

Lina seems upset about the whole thing, but at the same time, when she looks toward the greenhouse, she can't help but look on with understanding in her eyes, just like her brother.

Inside the plant-infested greenhouse Rika throws herself to her knees and sobs loudly, gulps, then says to herself "why won't they stop? These tears, they hurt! I also yelled at my sisters again. What is WRONG with me?"

She remembers her earlier conversation with Suzaku and whispers "but I can't bother my lady like that! I can't add more troubles on her! I just-I just CANT!"

Another, louder sob escapes the maid and now she ends up hugging her abdomen while kneeling on the ground as though in terrible pain, then silently sobs away in an effort to suck it up and stop her crying once and for all, though it is obvious that sucking this up isn't working any more, and all she can do now is cry on her own.

* * *

At the Forest of Magic, on an ample clearing where a white house western-like with a blue roof and a tower to its right sits on its center, Ail, Reimu and Sanae gracefully land in front of the house's blue door and stare.

The flowers under the windows look far too perky for it to be summer, the inside of the house seems too bright, and the glowing swirling light of holy magic above the house seems to be quite the ornament.

Casually admiring this the red and white says "yup, this is holy magic alright. Now you two, if what Marisa said is true, the house should be a total mess of warped magic that's made it into its own little world, just like when she opened that damned book."

The dense one stares at the red maiden, but before he can ask she says "something about her being a girl and making this world, then we beat her and made her cry... before she was hot and sexy."

From the distance in the air the black and white witch exclaims "you tell 'em how it is Reimu."

A beam flies straight out of the swirling light and smacks the witch right off the air, but nobody really seems to care.

All three turn their attention to the house and that's when the blue and white one says "ok, let's stop gawking and just go in there."

The red and white smile and says "wow, so eager. Well then let's go."

Just as Reimu opens the door Sanae places her hand on Ail's shoulder and whispers "stay close honey. I want to be sure you are safe."

The boy blushes with embarrassment and whispers back "I'll be fine Sanae-chan, don't worry."

The blue and white jumps on the boy, knocking him down to the ground as she exclaims "KYAH~! You called Sanae-chan! I LOVE YOU!", then proceeds to eat him with several kisses on the face.

The disgusted and jealous red and white pulls the blue and white from the boy with a single hand and says "hey, we got a mission here."

The green-haired maiden blushes, giggles and holds her face as she says "sorry. I couldn't help it."

With this all three of them stand up straight in front of the door, Reimu turns the brass knob, and the blinding light from within sucks them right up in an instant, then the door closes up quite quickly.

Inside the house the party find themselves surrounded by a sea of waving and swirling holy light, where even the walls seem to go on forever.

The dense boy looks around until he sees a speck of light brighter than the rest in the distance, points at it, then says "there! I believe she's over there."

The red and white pats his head as she would a dog and says "good boy Ail. Remind me to give you a treat later."

The blue and white smacks Reimu's hand off the boy and says "quit that and let's move."

The second they decide to move forward they are attacked by several dolls on blue, shooting beams and bullets of several colors and sizes, and all three find themselves dodging and shooting back relentlessly.

Formations of five and six dolls in triangles, zigzags and arcs appear all around them, but thankfully they are more than enough to handle the dolls and move on to the next wave, getting closer to the source of light with every moment.

Reimu looks at Sanae and shouts "it's gonna get tougher now! Watch over him!"

The red and white maiden points her eyes at Ail, who seems to be moving a tad bit slower but smiles as he shoots down the dolls, probably having fun.

The blue and white maiden nods, gets closer to the boy, and just as Reimu predicted, it got tougher.

Along with the dolls now come orbs of pure light shooting thin lasers, odd yin-yang spirits with swirling orbs around themselves shooting flames, and an odd shower of massive lances.

The unfair curtain of bullets, flames and lasers seems like child's-play for the red and white maiden, while the blue and white grazes through and the boy, though slow, manages to keep from getting hit by staying behind the party.

The dolls, spirits and orbs disappear, the lances suddenly stop appearing, then Ail asks "so... is it over?"

Two massive dolls the size of a house with glowing eyes appear in front of the party, then Reimu looks back and asks "any more stupid questions?"

Sanae sweats, stares at Reimu, then nods and says "yeah, he earned that one."

The two massive dolls start spinning around and raise a blade each, and as they spin the release holy arrows in shower arcs that pulse down toward the party, and all seem to home in on their closest target.

Reimu showers one with needles, Sanae showers the other with beams and colorful wind blades, and Ail focuses his shots and fires explosives orbs between the dolls, exploding hard whenever the dolls get close.

Though having a bit of a hard time dodging the increasing-in-numbers arrowheads the three keep on shooting, and quite suddenly both dolls explode and fall into the endless light.

After staring at the dolls as they disappear from sight the blue and white sighs and says "that was surprisingly easy."

The dense one happily shouts "that's teamwork!", while the red and white points into her own mouth and gags.

* * *

As they continue their way toward the brighter light, the dolls, holy orbs and yin-yang spirits appear all over the place, attacking even from behind and far more aggressively than before.

In the midst of dodging curtains of bullets and shooting down dolls and the such Reimu keeps her sights on Ail and Sanae.

Despite the dangers they are in those two have each other, care for each other, and to the Hakurei maiden it seems there's no room in their world for her.

As she watches them she thinks "_those two are so lucky, especially that girl. She doesn't know how good she's got it I'm sure. Bah, why am I feeling jealousy? I'm better than this! I just need to be patient and HE will come to ME! Or better yet, we might just find each other by one happy accident._"

The dense one calls "watch out!", and gets in between Reimu and a cluster of homing bullets, blocking their way with a large blue barrier.

From their right Sanae shouts "Reimu what's wrong? You're gonna get yourself killed!"

The red and white chuckles nervously, waves at the love-birds as they regroup, then says "um, sorry just got lost in thought there. I'm alright now."

The couple nod, then the whole party resume on their doll-beat-down.

The dolls attacking now are dressed in white, making it hard to make them out against the endless white background, but thankfully their red ribbons and golden hair does help in making them stand out a little.

These dolls shoot charms and holy homing bullets, and take quite a few shots to take down, and what's worse, the white orbs have reappeared and are leaving behind long holy beams with very narrow gaps that move side to side.

It is by a miracle they survive that onslaught and now are closer to the bright light.

The dolls and orbs disappear and Ail gasps and exclaims "bingo! Look, it's Alice alright. Let's-"

Before finishing his sentence holy magical circles appear in the air and shoot trails of bullets with very narrow gaps between each.

The boy screeches as he grazes through the bullets, though both Sanae and Reimu seem quite peaceful as they move around with grace, avoiding that cluster of bullets.

After the tenth circle fires the last set of bullets and disappear, the party of three narrowly dodge the last bullets and are now ten feet away from Alice Margatroid, the solitary puppet master and magician.

She has short blonde hair, her usually-blue eyes are glowing white, and wears a red ribbon as a headband, a white capelet over her shoulders, a long blue dress tied around the waist by a pink frilly sash, which happens to help show off her womanly figure quite well, and a pair of calf-high cross-laced brown boots.

One thing to notice is she's not holding her black book with the large lock and the pink ribbon tying it down, and both Shanghai and Hourai are flying around her, circling behind their mother and creator ominously.

Shanghai has long blonde hair, her usually-dark-blue eyes are glowing white like Alice's, and she wears a red ribbon on her head, a dark blue dress with long sleeves, a white apron around her skirt, cute little black shoes, and is holding a large razor. Hourai, like her mother and sister, has her eyes glowing white, and unlike them has her long blonde hair tied to a ponytail with her red ribbon, her dress is red instead of blue, and she's holding a silver lance.

Reimu glares at the girls and says "oh yeah, she overdid it with the holy spell. Ail, Sanae, she's completely out of control. We need to weaken her considerably before we can try reasoning with her, got it?"

Completely disregarding the red and white maiden's words Ail shouts "hey, Alice! It's us, Ail, Sanae and Reimu! We're here to help!"

The puppeteer let out a long hiss, revealing more glowing light coming from inside her mouth as she tries to speak, though only that odd hiss comes out.

She shoots a fast beam from the tip of her finger at the dense one who manages to dodge just barely, then he looks at his girlfriend and red and white sister and shrugs.

The girls face palm, the red and white one shakes her head while doing so, then Sanae shouts "you idiot, pay attention!"

* * *

Alice, Shanghai and Hourai shoot a white beam each, forcing all three invaders to dodge in a hurry, then Reimu shouts "it's ON! Let her have it!"

Without hesitation all three unleash their bullets on the magician, Ail light-blue lasers, Sanae pink charms and blue twin-beams, and Reimu yellow homing charms.

The puppeteer stops shooting her beam and switches to a barrage for white petals that split into groups that home in on each invader individually, and at the same time Shanghai starts dancing around and shooting white orbs that scatter about randomly, and Hourai starts singing, though she sounds like a harp, and releases light-yellow arcs that move slowly.

The blue and white shouts "these bullets are impossible to see! Reimu what should we do?"

The dense boy takes front and center and generates a massive blue barrier that stops the first wave of bullets, but Hourai's arcs break right through, and the boy's too weak to maintain the barrier for more than two seconds.

Reimu casually dodges the few bullets that made it to her and shouts "just focus and keep your eyes around your immediate area. You should be able to feel the bullets and move accordingly, just don't use a spe-"

Sanae raises a spell card and shouts "Esoterica, Grey Thaumaturgy!", then the Hakurei maiden face-palms, sighs, then monotonously finishes saying "a spell card yet."

A star forms behind the blue and white maiden and from its tips it fires several holy shards that go straight at Alice and her dolls, but the puppeteer raises her own spell card, opens her mouth to do a long hiss, then Sanae's spell is canceled and the three holy-possessed girls resume the attack from before.

The red and white angrily shouts "would you please listen to what I'm saying? She could have absorbed-"

The white sea around them dims a little, allowing them to see the bullets headed their way, and while dodging the Hakurei maiden chuckles nervously and says "um, never mind. Th-that was... a good move... heh-heh."

The Moriya maiden raises her left fist and cheers "YEAH! Score one for the Moriya!"

Alice switches bullets again, and goes for a mixture of those white petals scattered around along with light-red laser beams showering down from her index finger in a circular pattern.

Hourai continues her singing, Shanghai starts shooting more erratically, and now the little girls are circling each other behind the puppeteer.

Ail raises a spell card and shouts "my turn then, Brightness, Overwhelming Heart!"

The dense one's favorite spell, where rings of light grow from his chest and expand far and wide while some circle around him.

Several of those rings manage a hit on Alice and the dolls/tiny girls, then said magician raises another spell card, hisses when she opens her glowing mouth, then Ail's spell is canceled and the sea of white around them dims down enough for them to be able to see they are in Alice's room, though the whole place looks warped and waves about in a sickening manner.

Reimu and Sanae stop shooting as that they, along with the dense boy, hold their own stomachs and gulp down their lunches.

After burping and recovering, the red and white armpit maiden says "alright, my turn. Keep shooting at them this time to weaken all three at once."

Ail and Sanae nod and start shooting their bullets at Alice, Shanghai and Hourai, whom have changed their pattern a bit.

The two tiny girls are now circling behind Alice at a rapid pace, though stop and switch the direction they are spinning, then stop and switch again.

Alice is now showering the whole area with tiny white bullets, homing petal bullets, a pair of wall-bouncing blue beams, and smaller spreading light-red beams.

Reimu flies closer to the girls, managing to go between Alice's larger beam and Hourai's slow arc beam, then raises her spell card and shouts "Wild Exorcism Dance!"

The red and white shrine maiden begins an elegant dance, her yin-yang orbs fly out of her pockets and spin around her sickeningly fast, then a shower of talismans fly in a straight formation from behind Reimu toward the holy girls.

Ail and Sanae both scream when they are forced to split up to avoid being hit by the insanely powerful spell, but the Moriya maiden's own powers get tangled with Reimu's powerful spell.

The world around the six individuals shakes violently as Alice and her daughters are mercilessly bombarded by the Hakurei's spell, but when the dense one sees his girlfriend falling into the sea of dim white he immediately activates his Soraogan mode, flaps his ethereal dragon wings, and flies fast after Sanae.

Meanwhile the puppeteer raises her spell card and hisses again, though this time her voice can be heard faintly as she screams "OW OW OW OW OW OW, THAT HURTS!"

The holy spell card activates, Reimu's spell is cancelled, and everything seems to be working until the Hakurei maiden screams "NO! HELP! It's sucking me in!"

The remnants of the spell card threaten to absorb Reimu in the vacuum as well, but Ail with Sanae safely on his arms flies between the spell card and the maiden, raises his left hand, then shoots a constant white beam into it.

Reimu Hakurei lays her eyes on the dragon-winged boy, gasps as though being stabbed by cold steel on the chest, then excitedly screams "**IT'S YOUUUUU~!**"

The maiden tackles the boy before he's done, he, she and Sanae scream as they twirl toward the light, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai gasp and brace for impact, and from outside the house a bright flash illuminates the afternoon sky, just before all floating lights and swirling concentration of holy light above the magician's house dissipate like nothing was ever there.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Koakuma and Tenshi have taken the initiative and are banging on the door of the greenhouse in hopes that Rika will somehow acknowledge their presence.

The little devil cups her hands around her mouth and shouts "Rika please! Come on out! At least say something!"

Suzaku and Cirno fly down from the roof, then the ice fairy says "I couldn't find her! I'm so glad she doesn't play hide-and-seek with us, she's too good at hiding."

Hatate walks over from the shrine and says "who the hell cares about hide-and-seek! We need to get Rika out of there! She needs me!"

Tenshi stops banding on the door, slowly turns around to look at the tengu, then points and tauntingly says "you? What would she need from a big black chicken?"

The tengu is already raising her sleeves and winding her fist as she threateningly says "well at least I'm not, like, some brutish celestial or hormone-altering little DEMON!"

Both celestial and demon gasp and glare furiously at the tengu, then Koakuma shouts "oh, I think I'll be serving BIRD for Patchouli-sama today!"

Tenshi growls and says "you're going down chichen!", then takes the hilt of the Sword of Hisou, activates the fiery-orange blade, and in a moment all three are in the air showering each other with all kinds of bullets.

Surprisingly enough the little devil's bullets are brighter, faster, and come in greater volume, but even so she's only matching Hatate's bullets as the girls continue to fight without stop.

The celestial smacks the tengu with her sword, the tengu flashes the little devil's eyes with her camera, and the little devil accidentally sends a large blue bullet up the celestial's skirt.

Tenshi screams and grabs Koakuma by her head-wings, but the little devil quickly kicks the celestial on the nose, then Hatate tries to tackle the devil from the back.

From the ground Lina shouts "KOA-CHAN, UP AND LEFT!" and so the little devil back-flips and kicks to her left, sending the tengu crashing against the celestial, then the red-haired cutie looks down, winks, and flips her thumb up at the Kori girl.

Said girl returns the thumb up, and while the fight resumes in the sky the Kori twins walk over to the greenhouse, open the door with the turn of the knob, then quietly walk inside.

* * *

Over at the Human Village the shopping district has become a battlefield.

The more mature humans shower the air with bullets of all kinds, shapes, sizes and colors, the stores and kiosks are full of burn marks, the signs of the stores are broken or burned, and in the middle of the mess is Mima, raisin her hands and face to the air and shouting "that's it my pretty! MORE! YOU CRAVE MOOOOOOOORE! WAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA~!"

Budou zips from one roof to another and is swooping down on the more younger and modernly-dressed villagers, scaring the life out of them and laughing while doing so.

She stops on the roof of the fruits kiosk, looks at Mima, and with a crazed look on her face she asks "a-a-are you sure miss Mima-Mima? I feel fulls and it is tasty! WHY CAN'T I STOP?"

Without realizing it the little bat cackles as she swoops down after a modern red-haired girl, who runs, cries and screams for help.

Mima shouts "STOP!" and when Budou places her attention on her new mentor, the spirit says "you need to work on your cackle. Come on, after me... BAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA~!"

The little bat lands, her neck twitches, then she smiles innocently and cackles similarly to Mima.

The evil spirit proudly sniffles and says "oh your just like Marisa when she started training with me. Now grab that girl's leg and take her for a ride, but don't kill her! You want to scare her again later."

The adorably insane bat youkai salutes the evil spirit and flies after the running girl, quickly catches up to her, grabs her by the right ankle, and just like Mima suggested she flies the upside-down girl all around the shopping district and then drop her off on the roof of the doll's shop.

The green-haired spirit flips her thumb up and exclaims "YEAH, that's my girl! Now shoot some beams at that hairy man so he stops shooting you!"

Without hesitation the little bat shoots green beams at the owner of the doll shop, who hides to the left of the building, and after he screams and is sent flying away Mima cackles and shouts "ALRIGHT! Now try to-urk!"

Ignoring the sudden stop of her mentor's word Budou takes a deep breath, aims her puffed-up face at the humans hiding behind the stores further ahead, then screeches loudly, forcing them all to cover their ears and forget about shooting.

The adorable little bat lands in front of the doll shop, though her face looks relaxed her eyes look lost and out of focus, then she cackles as she prepares to lunge forward, but a purple cloud surrounds her completely and she now falls to the ground where she twitches as she tries to laugh.

Behind her are Medicine and Kyo, and said boy holds the unconscious Mima by the back of her robe's collar, and flying frantically around him is Phredia.

The boy looks at the fairy and asks "oi Medi, she's just paralyzed, right?"

Medicine bangs on her chest proudly and says "yup. She'll be like that for an hour."

Phredia relaxes, then Kyo looks around and says "so, this evil woman coaxed that sweet youkai into doing this, right?"

The elf fairy shakes her head, but Kyo just shrugs and says "well, whatever. Ail's going to have quite a bit to answer to now when he gets back."

The mentioned boy is now between a rock and hard place, figuratively speaking.

To his left, Sanae holds him tight against herself, pressing her ample womanhood on his arm, while Reimu holds his right and tenderly caresses his cheek while looking dreamily into his eyes.

The boy has no idea what the hell is going on, evident in the frightened and confused look on his face while Alice walks out of her house and asks "can someone tell me what happened? Why can't I remember what happened last night? And when did you all get here? HEY, I'm talking to you!"

Ail turns his sight to Alice, then whimpers "please help.", but the puppeteer doesn't seem to care much about his current predicament.

Suddenly Sanae shouts "Reimu let him GO!"

The red and white frowns at the blue and white, sighs and says "never. He's the one that saved me all those years ago, the one from my dreams, I'm never letting him escape again!"

The Moriya maiden tightens her grip on her man and furiously says "AGAIN? He's never been yours to begin with! Let him go before I kill you, you lying maiden!"

The boy tries to open his mouth but before he even takes a breath the girls shout "YOU KEEP OUT OF IT!", then the Hakurei maiden says "he's too good for you anyway!"

Shanghai stares at the situation from up close, flies over to her mom, then says "I don't think they're listening mama."

Alice places her hand on her right eye and sighs, then says "well whatever, let's try that holy spell again. Think it may work with a sealing circle this time."

The girl and her tiny daughters turn around while Ail himself shouts "no wait, ALICE! We just broke that hold it had on you! NO! STOP! Girls, stop her! She could get hurt!"

Both maidens angrily shout "Shut up Ail!", and now get up on their feet to start a painful tug-of-war with the boy's arms, regardless of his painful screaming.

* * *

It is now late noon at the Hakurei Shrine, and while the celestial, the little devil, and the twin-tailed tengu continue their fight, Aya writes and article about it from a tree branch, Suika "oohs" and "aahs" while taking regular gulps from her gourd, and Cirno sits on the donation box, looking to the Forest of Magic while waiting for Ail to return, slowly flapping her wings as she does.

Unknown to all is that the twins have infiltrated the greenhouse, and have been secretly watching over Rika for some time.

Said maid sits on a uncomfortable-looking wooden chair and rests her right arm on the table next to her, not noticing she has crushed a small vine under the weight of her arm.

Her eyes are very swollen and bloodshot, her tears keep coursing through her cheeks over the dried ones, and her lips seem to be stuck in a frown.

She sobs and cries, gulps and says to herself "you have to stop this! Rika you can't keep doing this! You're going to become a burden to her, so stop this!"

She gasps when she feels something touch her arm but is too weak to react properly.

Instead she looks at the smiling face of Leon as he gently rubs her forearm on the table and softly says "there, there miss maid. Dry those tears already."

The maid shivers and cries "bu-but I've been trying. they-they won't stop. My-my lady, miss Reimu will be sad."

Lina grabs Rika's left hand and presses the back of the maid's hand against her face and says "shh, it's alright. We understand."

A warm and soothing feeling quickly fills the shrine maid's entire being and just like that her tears stop, the pain in her heart subsides, but now she's left so drained she's almost half-asleep on that chair.

Now that the maid is in such a state of relaxation, Leon takes the chance and says "there, much better, right? Now miss Rika, I understand that you feel like a burden toward your mistress, that you should be perfect and not succumb to emotions."

The maid looks down at the boy, breathes deeply through her nose, then nods.

Lina taps Rika's left hand with her own and says "wrong miss. You are not a machine that can't feel. You are a living being with a heart and you are entitled to feel. That's a RIGHT for all that breathe and live. You understand this better than anyone, do you not?"

Rika's blissful smile slowly turns to a mid-frown, another tear escapes her right eye, then she whimpers "but I have to be strong, for lady Reimu."

The twins smile toward Rika, then at each other, and while holding on to the maid's hands they hold their own free hands, and after a bright flash Rika finds herself sitting against a giant bonsai tree in a massive field of green grass, with a small silver stream gently splitting the land, and where cherry-blossom petals flutter all over like rain that never stops, but also never touch the ground, creating a blissful world just for her and the Kori twins.

She tries to get up but the twins keep her sitting down, and now, though they don't move their lips, they speak simultaneously.

Looking at her with serene faces the twins say "it's true that you have to be strong for those you love, but right now you aren't being strong. In fact you are the cause of great discomfort and discord amongst them."

There is a short pause to allow Rika to absorb what's just been said, then the twins continue "you tried holding back your fears so you wouldn't hurt those you love, but in doing so you have blocked them and hurt them far worse. This morning it tried to get out, but you pushed it back. It didn't work. The wall broke and that left you in the path to self-destruction."

The shrine maid gasps and opens her eyes wide, but before she says anything the twins continue "say miss Rika, do you know why they are fighting amongst each other so much?"

There is a short pause before they continue "because they love you, and they are that much worried about you. They fight because they think it's the only way to get close to you, because they want to help, but you keep pushing them back. You wounded all their hearts miss Rika. You hurt them when they tried to help, even knowing full well that they are not those bullies at the park. That they are family and friends."

The sudden realization hits the maid so hard she chokes on herself when she tries to gasp, her heart beats so hard her chest feels as though it's made of weak paper and it's just about to break, her limbs lose all strength, and once again tears roll down her eyes.

The image of Tenshi, Reimu, Youmu, Koakuma, Hatate, and even Kogasa appear before her, and all look hurt toward her.

The image of Reimu walks toward her and stops right in front of the maid, then sadly says "why didn't you tell me? I'm not a bully! I'm like your family, aren't I? I can help you."

Tenshi's image walks next to Reimu's and says "and after I saved you from them so many times, you really believe I'd hurt you like they did? Gee, thanks a lot."

The entire field is now filled by images of all of the friends she's made ever since she entered Gensokyo, and she gasps when she realizes how many there are.

This is something she didn't have in the past; friends and family that care for her, that protect her and treat her as one of their own.

Rika tries to raise her arm to reach the images of her family and friends, but is stopped by an unseen force, then the twins say "and now that you understand, you must go to them, talk to them. You will be surprised, but more importantly you will be relieved, and all you hearts will mend. Again you'll be as one whole entity, sharing your light with the world."

The world around Rika turns bright once more, and now the maid wakes up in the same pose she was when she fell asleep.

Her heart feels lighter, though it beats hard, her resolve has returned to her, and she slowly feels her strength return to her. It is now nighttime, the twins are missing, and outside the greenhouse there is great commotion.

* * *

The shrine maid walks out of her greenhouse and looks toward the shrine, and there, on the training yard are most of her most special friends together, and as usual tension seems to be quite high.

Ail is caught in the middle of a fight between Reimu and Sanae while the bleeding Koakuma, the tattered Tenshi and the bruised Hatate watch them argue.

Cirno is pulling on the red and white shrine maiden with all her might while Suika cheers on and Aya laughs hard and furiously writes on her notepad.

Behind the short-haired tengu are Leon and Lina, holding hands and smiling at the maid, then the Kori boy nods toward her and Rika takes this as a signal to move forward.

The first one to notice the maid is the celestial, who immediately turns around, gasps at the sight of her friend, then exclaims "RIKA! What happened to you? Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

The little devil turns around and covers her mouth, then exclaims "oh my goodness Rika! What happened? C-can I do something for you? Just name anything!"

The twin-tailed tengu jumps in front of the devil and exclaims "Rika-sis, you're out! Are you hungry? I can get you something to eat if you want!"

From behind the girls and still holding Ail, Reimu asks "whoa Rika, you look terrible! Have you been crying all this time?"

The maid's body starts convulsing, tears start flowing down her cheeks once more, then she runs to the celestial, trips on a rock, and falls on said celestial's arms.

Not caring of her position the maid wraps her left arm around Tenshi, sinks her cheek on said celestial's abdomen, sobs for a bit, then raises her other hand to welcome Koakuma and Hatate.

Once they are all together and Rika manages to hug all three at the same time the maid cries for a moment and finally manages to say "I'm so sorry. So sorry to have worried all of you so much! Momoko, Hata-chan, Koa-chan, I'm so sorry! Please, forgive me."

Being the one in the middle, the lucky tengu is the only one able to use both arms to hug Rika back, but the others don't seem to mind as they wrap what arm they can around the maid.

Softly, the celestial says "it's ok Rika, you little fool. I'm here.", the tengu whispers "Rika-sis is not mad anymore. I'm so happy.", and Koakuma, sounding relieved says "Rika onee-chan! There's nothing to apologize for. What matters is you are back again."

The maid breaks up the group hug and slowly gets back on her feet, sniffling, smiling and crying, rubs her face with the back of her hands, then looks at Reimu, who has finally released Ail and is unaware of Sanae holding him tight and pressing his head on her chest, something he seems quite content with.

As though unsure of what's going on, the red and white asks "Rika? Are you alright?"

A powerful impulse pushes the maid to jump on her mistress and hug-tackle her to the ground, where poor Cirno is crushed underneath both their weights, though not for too long since Ail opens a gap under the fairy and she's now safely besides the hugging girls.

While holding the shrine maiden tightly Rika cries "I'm so sorry my lady, for everything. I should have told you from the start but I was scared. I didn't want to be a burden, but I was, and now you're all worried sick about me-"

Reimu quickly tightens her embrace and rubs Rika's back and wings, touching the maid's scar yet none seem to care, then says "Rika, it's alright. No more crying now. The important thing is you're back, you're no longer in that path of self destruction. You are back with us."

The Kori twins smile warmly at the sight, then look up at the tree branch straight above themselves, where Suzaku stares back at them and bows in respect, then swoops down and flies in circles around the girls, tweeting a beautiful song while doing so.

* * *

Rika finally gets up on her knees and helps Reimu to sit, then each catch each other's faces and smile.

From their left Cirno sniffles and says "I don't know what happened, but I'm glad for you miss angel."

The maid turns her sights to Cirno, then smiles and says "oh my how cute! You must be miss Cirno, right?"

The ice fairy nods, though is too moved to do her usual proud introduction, but it's not needed. Rika looks at that sweet smile, those glistening eyes with bits of tears underneath, and that little bugger running down her nose, then smiles and says "yup, it HAS to be. I never thought you were so adorable!"

The maid picks up the fairy and sits her on her lap, takes a handkerchief from her pocket, then cleans her face while saying "there we go. Someone as cute as you should have a nice, clean face."

While this happens three VERY jealous faces aim their eye-daggers at the lucky ice fairy on the maid's lap being cleaned and snuggled by THEIR favorite girl.

Koakuma, Hatate and Tenshi gulp, their wounds somehow heal to perfection, and in a very dangerous undertone the celestial says "that should be me over there.", the tengu says "stupid fairy sitting there must die.", and Koakuma whispers "after all the crap I went through, SHE get's the prize."

Not noticing the jealous girls Cirno looks up at Rika and stares for a moment before saying "lady angel, you are very nice. I like you."

The maid giggles, smiles dearly at the fairy, then says "my, miss Reimu was wrong about you. You are quite polite and sweet."

The ice fairy smiles, her eyes start shutting down, and the second her head tilts left and she falls asleep, the sword on Rika's belt, after quite some time, turns to its colorful state and glows bright blue.

Meanwhile, Reimu has recovered herself and is pointing at Sanae while furiously shouting "you give him back this instant! He's mine by right!"

The Moriya maiden squeezes the lucky boy tighter and shouts "yeah, the right to be a jealous maiden! BACK OFF!"

The Hakurei maiden straightens up and starts cracking her neck and knuckles while saying "them's fightin' words you spoiled brat."

Sanae finally lets Ail go, straightens up, cracks her neck and knuckles, then says "what if they are? You still won't get MY man!"

The girls glare at each other for a few seconds, charge at each other with their right fists raised, then stop when they notice the guests in front of the boy in question.

It's Kyo, Medicine and Luna, and with them are Phredia, Budou, who has a crazed look and smile on her face while jumping up and down, even though she's tied up with holy rope, and inside a glass bottle held by Luna is Mima.

The fighting girls stare with curiosity, then Reimu asks "Kyo, what's with that face?"

Sanae quickly adds "hey, what's wrong with Budou?"

Ail looks a little annoyed as he asks "Kyo, why is Budou acting like she's high on something and tied up like a cocooned silk worm? And how the heck did you get Mima in there."

Said spirit's voice sounds echoed and muffled when she shouts "get me out of hereee~!"

The muscular boy sighs, clears his throat, then smiles and says "seems like Budou discovered the joys of terrorizing the village, though it's not entirely her fault as miss Mima here was, how you say, adding fuel to the fire. And you wouldn't believe how flexible a spirit is."

Ail stares in disbelief at his youkai daughter as she jumps in place and rapidly says "I'm taking all your scares for great justice. Take me to your leader! MY PAPAAAA!"

Luna raises the bottle with the evil spirit inside and says "if it weren't for Phredia edging us to follow her we would have had to seal your little girl. She's high on excess spiritual power from scaring villagers half-to-death and THIS hag here was teaching her how to scare them more effectively. Your girl is a fast learner Ail."

From inside the bottle the evil spirit growls and threateningly says "watch iiiiit!"

The dense boy stares awestruck as he is given the rope holding Budou and the bottle containing Mima, then says "ohh this is bad."

Medicine laughs loudly and says "you don't know the half of it! You've been summoned by Kotohime and the elders to talk about the repair fee you'll have to pay for, plus a fine for unleashing such terror on the village."

The dense one gulps, looks at the hopping, babbling Budou, then looks at Sanae who shares his same awestruck look, then he looks at Kyo and says "butt-monkeys!", his most powerful curse when angry and confused.

A silver washtub falls from the sky and lands straight on Budou's head, but it splits in two and the little bat rapidly says "clang-blang-clang-SMASH! Lend me some ICE CREAM! I'll Sunday you on pay-grapes! WOO-WOO!"

* * *

Later that night, at the Myouren Temple, Kogasa flies down to Shou in front of the main temple's entrance, then looks on with saddened eyes, shakes her head and says "I don't think she's coming back. At least with lady Hijiri gone she's not."

Shou sighs as she rubs her forehead and irritably says "and just when I needed her help. Well, whatever. Let's get inside and go to bed There's no use waiting out here."

They enter through the main door and the tiger youkai promptly turns around to lock it, but she suddenly stops, sighs, then turns to face the new Buddha statue and says "with Byakuren gone everything seems to be crumbling already, and all thanks to the foolishness of one single self-adoring idiot."

Kogasa closes her umbrella, turns her neck to look at the tiger youkai, then says "that Drake fellow is trouble. M-maybe we should do what miss Hijiri does and ask mister Buddha for help."

Shou smiles, almost too dearly and without noticing and says "well, I can contact Bishamonten with ease. Maybe I can contac-"

Several bangs on the large door take the girls' attention, cutting the tiger's sentence, and from the other side of the door a girl calls "hello! Please someone open up quick! She's starting to get heavy!"

Shou and Kogasa share a confused look, but the tiger youkai quickly turns around and opens the door, then gasps loudly at the sight, so loudly in fact that she manages to get the attention of Murasa and Ichirin all the way in their rooms.

At the door stands Nitori, holding on to Nue with her mechanical arms, who slumps, is covered in her own blood, and her hair looks a bit greyish.

The kappa sighs and says "please tell me this is the Myouren Temple! This poor girl's been repeating that name all the way."

And sure enough, the nue youkai is whispering "Myouren Temple. Myouren... Myouren Temple. Please, Myouren Temple."

Just as Minamitsu and Ichirin enter the large room Shou aims to grab Nue and says "y-yes, this is the Temple. Um, what exactly-HOLY BISHAMONTEN, WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?"

When the tiger grabs hold of the weak and very light nue she discovers her face is wrinkled, her left eye is missing, she has a gash on her abdomen and a smaller gash on her forehead, and she also has a horrible burn mark on her left arm.

Her blue tail-like wings look pruned and she's missing two of her red bladed wings, and the snake that usually coils itself around her right arm looks almost black as it dangles almost lifelessly toward the floor.

From the back Minamitsu says "whoa, she finally got herself into trouble I see."

Ichirin sighs and adds "seriously, this was bound to happen soon, but wow, whomever did that to her must have wanted to-"

Shou angrily shouts "hush! And you, kappa! What happened to her?"

Nitori stammers nervously for a moment and finally manages to say "sh-she I found her like that! She fell off the mountain into the river and I got her out of the water, and then she kept saying Myouren Temple, and and-!"

The tiger youkai, though wanting to shout in anger, manages a peaceful smile as she calmly says "I'm sorry miss, I lost my temper. Please stay with us for tonight, rest in the pool. Tomorrow I wish to speak to you. Right now..."

She turns a stern face to the girls in the room, realizes Nazrin is now next to her, then continues "...our main focus is Nue's recovery."

Nazrin looks over the nue's body and quickly says "that burn mark. Someone tried to suck her life force right out of her. And those are cuts from an unidentified mythical weapon, probably foreign."

Ichirin rushes to the rooms corridor while saying "I'll prepare miss kappa's accommodations.", then Minamitsu rushes after her while saying "I'll get in infirmary ready."

Kogasa smiles and places her umbrella against her right shoulder as she says "you can count on me for anything."

Nazrin smirks, looks at Shou through the corner of her eyes, then says "well, it's like you've been possessed by Byakuren's spirit, Master."

While saying this the mouse youkai flicks the basket off her tail and uses it to trap Nitori before she runs away.

The tiger youkai stares at the mouse with a straight and serious face, then says "you can compliment me later."

She starts walking toward the back of the temple while saying "we can't have an ally fall now. What would Hijiri think if something like that happened while she was gone? ...Now come on."

Nazrin easily lifts the struggling kappa and her large backpack with her tail coiled around the kappa's torso, looks at her master as she disappears into the corridor, then walks after her while saying "heh, she can be dependable when needed. Come on miss kappa. Oh don't worry, we won't harm you as long as you behave. Now come, you'll love our pool."

Kogasa immediately cries "hey! I want to help too."

Nazrin turns to look at the karakasa, smiles, then says "then close the door."

She continues walking toward the corridor, followed by several grey mice while the trapped kappa looks at the karakasa and whimpers "save me please."

Kogasa sighs, walks over to the door, and as she closes it up she sighs says "well, at least it's something. ...I wonder if they don't trust me?"

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Ayalina, Kyo, Luna, Leon, Luna, Akaizo and his wife, and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Ail's Brightness Overwhelming Heart spell card was created by Willie G.R.

Damien's Makai created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Damien was created by Hydorviper

JUN 08 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Wow, what a LONG chapter. I thought of cutting this in half and post it in two chapters, but that made no sense. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the long read. Many Touhou remixes were listened to while writing this, specifically from the newest sound sepher album. Anyway, until next time.**


	9. Chapter 9

It is a peaceful early-morning at the Hakurei Shrine.

"L**et. him. GO!**" shouts Sanae from within the shrine, followed by a yelp and a quick smack.

Scratch that. The sound of fighting girls coming from within the living house's walls signals the beginning of a rather normal morning at the Hakurei Shrine.

Inside said building Rika sits with Cirno on her lap beside Tenshi and Hatate.

The ice fairy looks quite comfortable as the maid scratches her head, and remains blissfully unaware of the dirty envious looks from the celestial and tengu.

The maid and the fairy, along with one edgy-looking little devil and the two Kori twins, watch with great amusement as Reimu and Sanae pull on Ail's arms in a tug-of-war for dominance over said boy.

To the left the red and white pulls on the boy and sweetly says "tell her Ail. Tell her of the special bond you and I share!"

Before he can answer the blue and white pulls from the right and exclaims "Reimu, he's said it before! You are JUST like a sister to him!"

The dense one manages to nod and take a deep breath, then Budou jumps on his head from out of nowhere and almost to tears she exclaims "papa I'm sorryyyyy! I'm a good girl, I swearrrrrr! I won't scare villagers ever again!"

Though she says this she can't stop flapping her wings rapidly, and she cannot control the crazed look in her eyes or that smile that resembles Mima's own mischievous grin.

Completely disregarding the fact that he's being split in half by two raging maidens, Ail scolds the little bat sternly as he scowls at her, saying "Budou, stop listening to Mima already!"

The little bat giggles and flies to the ceiling while playfully saying "darn, I failed~! Tee-hee~! I still want yummy delicious grapy goodness!"

Still scowling, Ail turns his head around to look at Mima's bottle as it hangs from the ceiling by a golden string and angrily says "and you, stop giving her ideas or I'm sending you to Eiki!"

From inside the bottle Mima aws and says "and here I thought you would at LEAST remember what we talked about."

The dense one gulps and looks toward the kitchen and thinks "_dammit she got me there. I was supposed to stay away from Reimu for at least three days. Wait... how long have I been away?_"

Reimu giggles and sighs dreamily, then says "oh, what a man! He can be so strong and assertive, and he still looks cute when stumped like that."

Sanae growls and manages to yank the boy from the red and white's grip, and while holding him tightly, squeezing him against her ample bosom, she exclaims "he is mine Reimu! Get it through that thick skull already!"

She then points at Rika and exclaims "besides, you were JUST about to sit down and listen to your maid, you neglectful girl!"

From the table Rika smiles, waves, then says "it's alright, really! I can wait."

Said maid looks down at Cirno, who looks up at her and smiles, then says "besides, this cutie here is keeping me company," then starts scratching said fairy's head while smiling sweetly.

The sound of grinding teeth fills the room, frightening even Suzaku right out of her perch and into Rika's room in point-fifteen seconds, yet the kind winged maid fails to notice the source.

Tenshi, Hatate, and Koakuma are all grinding their teeth furiously, even throwing sparks out of their mouths, jealous at Cirno's incredible luck.

Parsee peeks her head from underneath the tatami flooring, grinning wickedly toward the jealous girls.

While Reimu is distracted with Rika again, Ail escapes Sanae's warm and soft embrace, hurries to pick Mima's bottle, and dashes toward the front entrance.

He has one foot out the door when he turns around and strictly calls "come now Budou! We have a meeting at the village!"

Sanae finishes tying up the bat's wings with some sacred rope and says "I'm coming with you. You're going to need help and backup with this one."

Budou just giggles as she jumps up and down in place repeating "boing-boing-boing-**BOOOOOING**", forcing Phredia right out of her heart and straight to Ail's shoulder with sheer force of energy.

Reimu points at Sanae and furiously shouts "hey, **I** should be the one to go with him!"

The blue and white growls and angrily replies "shut up! And stop neglecting your maid!"

Rika sweetly says "I'm fine, really."

Ignoring this, the dense one looks at Reimu, gasps, then nervously asks "wait, I forgot. Umm Reimu, i-is it ok if I go to Mugenkan and help some friends out of the dream world? You see, I kinda promised I would and-"

Like night to day the red and white's attitude completely changes as she looks dearly at the boy and in a sickeningly-sweet tone says "of course you can! I'll send word to Yuka to expect you soon! Oh, and don't worry I am SURE you know what you are doing my sweet man!"

The blue and white shivers so violently even Budou feels the shock from the shiver.

Throwing a very hateful look at the red and white Sanae angrily says "keep away from him or I'm going to smash your shrine, Hakurei!"

Like day to night Reimu changes her attitude again, and glaring frighteningly toward the Moriya maiden she speaks in a threatening low tone "I wasn't talking to you. Now get out of here before I get violent."

At that very moment black and red sparks fly right out of the two maidens' eyes and clash in mid-air between them, and it's at that moment that Rika grabs Reimu, Ail grabs Sanae, and while the boy drags his girlfriend and the bat outside, Rika bows her head and says "please come back soon. I need to hear more about miss Hijiri. I would like to help her too, with my lady's permission."

The dense one nods, smiles, bows, then drags Sanae outside, who is dragging one hyper Budou, who somehow now holds Mima's bottle, which has Phredia guarding its cork from being removed by said bat.

* * *

Everything looks hazy over at the front yard of Kasen's dojo, and there is a murky fog all around the borders of the scenery.

The trees seem to look the same but do not move with the powerful gusts blowing fiercely around, the scene keeps flashing white very suddenly, and it moves about violently, making it very confusing.

Two dark blurs fly around said scenery and everything seems to settle, at least where the shaky scenery is concerned

After the scene stops moving two figures become clear to the eyes.

Nue has her bow and an arrow of light aimed at Drake, and the boy is at point black range.

She mercilessly shoots her arrow straight at the godling's forehead at the same time he reaches for her left arm with his magic clawed-gauntlet of light.

He absorbs the arrow's energy with ease, but touching Nue while doing so causes a reaction inside his own body, and that causes a powerful explosion that shakes the very foundation of the dojo.

The boy and undefined girl fly off separate ways; he crashes face-first through the wall between Kasen's room and the balcony in front of it, while the youkai smashes her back against a tree and falls face-first to the ground.

From the mansion Drake's screams give the nue the empowering satisfaction she needs to raise her head and aim it at the scream's source, doing so with a vile smile.

Drake screams loud and long from the hermit's room but isn't attacking, giving the undefined girl more than enough time to recover, but by the time she flies up to see what happened to her opponent there is only silence to greet her.

She looks around the room and sees blood spilled all over the floor, but no signs of the god-in-training anywhere.

As she looks around she thinks "_yes! I hurt him. Now all I have to do is flush that roach out of hiding and finish him off._"

She smirks as she begins her descent and the first thing she gets when her feet touch the balcony floor is a horrible sharp pain on her stomach as the eye of the boy meets with her own.

She gags as a bit of blood trickles out of her mouth, then Drake angrily shouts "you little bitch! Look what you did to my eye!", then points at the bloodied lid where his left eye should have been.

The youkai's response is a soft gasp, a light smile, and her left middle finger raised and aimed at the boy's face.

Drake roars as he lifts to the air with his light-equipped hand inside the girl's stomach, winds his arm as he reaches a satisfying height, then he throws the girl straight down to the ground.

As she falls her wound immediately starts to heal, and by the time she slams on her back against the cold and hard ground all her internal organs are fully healed, though to her dismay the gash is still there, and the vicious boy is not done.

He lands with his foot on her chest and viciously claws her entire face with the gauntlet of light, grabs her by the neck as she screams in pain and shouts "an **eye** for an **eye**!"

He places his right hand on her left eye and all the girl can do is gasp with despair as he charges up a powerful blast of pure light, then screams at the top of her lungs when he shoots a burning beam at her face and takes her eye.

Her reaction from the sudden surge of pain is to sink her nails into Drake's neck and throw him off herself, then writhe around while screaming and holding her now-missing left eye.

The boy is not done with her and aims to finish her off by sinking that gauntlet into her face, but Nue is a fighter.

She can see his silhouette as he jumps above her and manages to roll away just in time to avoid a direct impact, but her forehead gets cut deeply by one nasty claw.

She ignores the pain and keeps rolling away until she's far enough, springs on her feet, and summons her trident to her left hand.

She mercilessly aims to maim his face but the boy jumps away just in time, though not fast enough to avoid getting impaled on the right thigh.

Nue takes the chance to lift him up, swing him above her head, then slams him face-first to the ground.

After she's done she jumps on his back and thrusts her weapon into his right shoulder-blade with all her might and fury, and that's when her survival instincts kick in.

Instead of screaming in pain the godling does nothing at all; no reaction.

He quietly lies there while summoning something to him, or perhaps preparing some sort of attack.

Whatever he is doing this nue doesn't like it, and her instincts urge her to run away as fast as she can, which she does.

She's weak, she keeps bleeding, her wounds are taking far too long to heal, now her left eye is missing which makes healing even more of a slow-progress and a problem, and from the sounds of things Drake is on her heels.

She looks back for a second but sees nothing, turns around again and sighs with relief, and screeches while trying to skid to a stop, but the godling grabs her left arm and angrily whispers "and now, _youkai_, you die."

Nue screams as though she undergoing the worst torture of her life.

A spark of energy radiates from where the god-in-training is holding her and from there she can feel as her life is being literally sucked out of.

The snake on her right arm turns black, her wings droop, her skin start to shrivel, and yet she glares at the boy.

She places her right hand on his neck and uses what little energy she has left to shoot a red-hot blast straight on to his skin, though he only flinches for a bit.

This flinch gives her the chance to swing one of her red wings and slash his fingers, freeing herself from his grasp, but he manages to grab her lower blue wings and siphons energy from there, shriveling them in the process.

Desperate, yet out of energy, she wills herself to shouts "l-let go! Let-let me go!"

Out of sheer will to live she manages to move her bladed wings again and stabs Drake where his left eye used to be.

He immediately releases her as he squirms and screams in agonizing pain, and Nue takes this opportunity to jump off the mountain.

She can't fly. She has had too much energy drained out of her and can't even manage to glide safely.

From the mountain, out of pure rage Drake shouts "I hate you! **I HATE ALL OF YOU MONSTERS!**"

He shoots at her with her very own energy on the back, destroys two of her bladed wings, but the blast sends her flying straight to the river, guaranteeing her a somewhat safe landing.

She can't stop herself from falling into the fast-flowing waters.

She moves fast toward that cold water, quickly notices the rock her head is aimed at, and all she can do is close her eye and empty socket as tightly as her weak body will allow and wait for the impact.

The thud is hard and it quickly comes with a splash, and everything turns white.

Nue screams as she lifts up from her bed, screaming for help even though she's quite safe inside a dimly lit bedroom.

She breathes rapidly through her mouth as she looks around the dark room, that murky fog around her gone from her sight, and after absorbing the familiarity of her surroundings she thinks "_I'm... home?_"

* * *

A sudden burst of light comes rushing into the room from her right, and a familiar voice says "ah so you _are_ awake. Good then, that mean I was right. You know you are lucky you are so tough, or you'd be nothing but a memory... wait, it's _stubborn_, not tough."

Squinting her right eye and raising her left arm to shield herself from the light, and with a raspy and low tone of voice Nue says "tougher than you are ...Nazrin."

The mouse youkai chuckles as her silhouette becomes visible to the nue youkai, then says "hmm, still wrinkly, and your voice sounds terrible. Man, where da hell did you go and get so beat up?"

The undefined one quickly thinks "_not a dream! I-I did. ...Did I really challenge him?_" then she looks at her mirror while the mouse youkai opens the two small windows at the back of the room.

She is horrified by the sight she sees.

The left side of her face, her head, her left arm and stomach are wrapped in bloody bandages, her skin looks pruned and feels dry to her own touch, all her wings save for a tiny single red bladed wing have fallen off, the snake that's usually on her right arm is spread on the bed to her right, and now she realizes her legs feel numb.

Nazrin sighs as she smiles with pity when she notices the nue looking into the mirror, then says "you are very lucky that kappa got you here when she did. Took master the whole night to restore the magic around your body."

The undefined girl smirks, looks at the mouse, then asks "so Byakuren returned?"

This questions shocks the mouse, evident in the surprise on her face, but quickly recovers and asks "is that what you were doing? Looking for Hijiri? Jeez, and I thought Shou had it bad for her."

She notices the confused look on Nue's face, then realizes her assumption is wrong and says "no, Byakuren still hasn't returned."

Now it's Nue's turn to look shocked and surprised.

She stares at the mouse with such confusion Nazrin can't help but feel awkward about it, but she knows what this is all about.

Said mouse youkai walks over to the door while saying "gonna tell master you're awake," but just before she's out of sight she stops and asks "did you really think we'd just abandon you, you undefined idiot?"

And just like that the mouse is gone, leaving Nue alone with her thoughts.

She looks around her room and feels a soothing sensation of peace when she realizes that, even though Byakuren is not there, she's been allowed to stay.

True, she still believes she'll be kicked out as soon as she gets better, but still...

As she looks to her numb feet under her white blanket she thinks "_...but still, to be taken in like that, and after Byakuren left. I guess I was wrong about these girls,_" and then it hits her like a ton of bricks.

"**GASP! **Oh no! We have to find Miss Hijiri!" excitedly exclaims the girl as she clasps her head.

Meanwhile, inside a large, cool, moist and comfortable looking room with nothing but a round pool filled with crystalline water and floating lotus flowers, Nitori swims on her back around said flowers with a blissful smile on her face.

She moans contently and says "ooo~ I had you guys pinned so wrong. Really, sorry about that."

Shou and Minamitsu sit on the left edge of the water and just watch the kappa enjoy herself so much, then the tiger asks "glad you like the accommodations. Now are you certain that is all you know?"

The happy kappa nods, kicks a bit, lifting her skirt and revealing a swimsuit underneath her skirt, then says "like I said, she fell into the river, I dove in after her, the water cleaned up a lot of her blood, then I felt this odd energy and almost ended up being dragged by the current, but we didn't, so it's alright."

The tiger looks to the captain to realize the perverted girl is staring at the kappa's thighs with hungry eyes, smacks the back of her head, then whispers "save it captain."

Said captain stammers as she recovers herself, then says "um right, right, that's the so-called god's energy, and um, stuff."

Allowing the perverted sailor to resume her hungry staring at the kappa, Shou face-palms and sighs irritably.

After rolling her hand off her face she notices Nazrin on the door and smiles weakly, then asks "she's awake?"

The mouse nods, grins, then says "but before you can go to her, the worshipers are all waiting at the temple for you, Miss Bishamonten's representative."

Toramaru stares at the mouse with confusion, then asks "wait, f-followers came?"

Nazrin sighs and shakes her head, though smiles while doing so and says "Master hurry up. Get the jeweled pagoda and go already. You wouldn't want to disappoint lady Hijiri and turn those followers away, would you?"

* * *

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, the present girls, the ice fairy on the maid's lap, plus Youmu, Yuyuko, and the Kori twins all sit around the oval table while listening to Rika unload all her woes.

The maid sniffle and wipes away a single tear from underneath her left eye, then finishes saying "...and that is why I kept it all hidden. That is why I couldn't face you. I-I still don't know why I feel like this. I just do."

Around the table the many faces of the girls show some sort of discomfort.

Hatate looks depressed, her eyes hiding under a dark shadow, Koakuma looks a little offended, though her tears express deep sadness, Youmu remains looking calm, though keeps growling inward, Tenshi looks all kinds of disappointed and enraged, though tries to look away from her friend all the time, and Reimu looks more concerned than hurt, yet some degree of pain can be seen in her eyes.

Leon and Lina look at Yuyuko, who smiles whimsically as she waves at them, then all return to look at Rika and the rest of the girls as the maid continues speaking.

Said maid gulps as she shivers and sniffles once more, scratches Cirno's head, and through her cracking voice she says "that image of those bullies burned into the front of my mind and I couldn't get rid of it, and what's worse I pinned you all in the same level! Th-that's why ...I was so afraid of saying anything."

All the faces in the room quickly turn to concern, save for Yuyuko who hides a rather odd wise look with her fan.

The maid looks back at the concerned and confused face of the ice fairy on her lap and says "that's why I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want to hurt you, but I still did and... Please forgive me. I was being so selfish. My friends, my lady, Momoko, please I beg of you to forgive me!"

After saying this the angel-winged maid bows her head as low as she can without crushing Cirno underneath her own well-endowed chest, and waits.

The tengu is the first to break the silence by looking hurt toward Rika and saying "well it does hurt that you, like, put me in the same league as those brutes, but I forgive Rika-sis. But only if she stops being a mean sis and doesn't push me away anymore."

Koakuma follows, sighing to release her tension, then looks with a friendly smile at the maid and says "I also forgive Rika-onee-chan. Humans can be stupid, so I understand. You know, your story makes me think of miss Flandre for some reason."

Lina walks over to the little devil, subtly pinches her on the left butt-cheek, then threateningly whispers "you're saying too much my sexy pet~."

Youmu still looks neutral toward the shrine maid, but her anger becomes obvious when she angrily says "I understand what you are saying, and I understand it affected you so, but you really hurt me. I will forgive you Rika-san, but be more prudent! We all love you and treat you like family after all."

Yuyuko places her hand on the gardener's right shoulder and softly says "that's enough Youmu. You made your point."

The gardener gets up on her feet, stares angrily at Rika for a moment, then quickly turns around and walks outside the shrine.

Yuyuko sighs, slightly bows her head, then says "please forgive her. She's still so young," to which Rika bows her head as low as she can, then looks up at the celestial.

Tenshi stands up and looks down on her long-time friend, though her eyes remain hidden under a dark shadow, then softly asks "after all I did to protect you, showed you how much I cared, you think I'd do something to actually hurt you?"

The maid gulps while looking around at her friends, particularly Tenshi, with a desperate look on her teary eyes, and notices the pain she's caused them with this knowledge.

She knew something like this would happen, but it still hurts her heart and feels as though several needles are going through it at the moment, and that's when she notices Tenshi's bloodshot eyes.

The celestial has been holding herself back from crying, and it's all Rika's fault, but thankfully the ice fairy acts before the maid can feel guilty.

Cirno jumps on the table with a furious look on her face as she says "hey! The angel-lady just said she was sorry! You don't have to point at her and scold her," and of course, she says all this while pointing at the maid.

Reimu stands up with a serene look, walks behind the shrine maid and places her hands on said girl's shoulders, then calmly says "we all understand Rika, you don't have to beat yourself over this anymore."

The girls all turn their attention to Reimu's calm, yet strong and resolute eyes, and seem shocked by what they see, save for Yuyuko, the Kori twins, and Suzaku whom has joined the ghost princess and perches on her shoulder.

Reimu looks around at the girls and says "this girl needs our support now. Yes, I know it hurts, to be pinned in the same league as those fools, but this isn't about that! This is about us helping HER recover from this. We are her loved ones, and it's our job to go above those bullies and show this messed-up lady the difference between them and us."

Yuyuko and the twins can't help but smile after hearing that, and Suzaku would smile too but all she has is a beak, and it's hard to smile with one of those.

The celestial drops back on her cushion and lets out a long sigh, and she now stares at the table in shame, while at the same time Koakuma and Hatate try to look directly at the maid in her eyes, and they would if it weren't for the ice fairy that stands in their way.

The celestial finally raises her eyes, looks at Rika, ignoring the wing of the fairy on the way and says "I'm sorry, I just ...that just hurt. Um, so, I will forgive you, but only if you promise you'll never do that again."

The maid grabs Cirno and places her back on her lap, then looks at Tenshi with her most friendly smile and sweetest slow-wing-flap, causing the celestial to blush, then said celestial adds "a-and you have to cook something nice too! Th-then I'll forgive you!"

From outside, behind the wall beside the door, Youmu sighs, smiles to herself, then loudly says "fine, I'm sorry! Rika, I am very sorry for what I said," then peeks her head through the doorway and adds "but you now owe me a match."

The maid spreads her wings as she happily smiles when the half-ghost raises a friendly half-smile to her and quickly nods, then said half-ghost chuckles and says "then it's settled. Besides, I'd like to show off some new moves I've been practicing."

Yuyuko claps softly and says "just don't forget your duties~"

Ignoring the ghosts, Rika turns her neck to look at her mistress behind herself and whispers "thanks my lady. You are the best."

Reimu's smile is sweet, bright and full of love as she giggles, then replies "any time Rika-chan. And you can thank me even more by helping me later on, ok?"

There's something frighteningly odd about that loving smile on her mistress' face, but she's the maid of said woman so, no matter what, she will help the shrine maiden reach any goal she desires, so the maid simply nods and flaps her wings, which causes many blushing faces in the room.

At that very moment Koakuma gasps as though she's just seen the end of the world and jumps up on her feet, then agitatedly exclaims "OH NO! I HAVE TO GET BACK HOME! PATCHOULI SAMA~!"

Without thinking straight and forgetting the twins the little devil runs to the left-side doors, slides them further open with a bang, takes flight, and a silver washtub with a diamond-plated bottom smashes her head, successfully knocking her down to the ground where blood from the massive bump on her head immediately forms a pool under her dizzy-looking face.

Reimu sighs and smiles, then asks "Rika, can you accompany them to the mansion? Seems they're going to need your help. And I think you'll benefit from that short trip."

The maid smiles, flaps her wings rapidly, places her semi-closed hands on her pink cheeks, coos for a moment, then happily exclaims "my lady you are the greatest ever!"

While doing so she hears several thuds in the room, then the sweet angel-winged maid opens her eyes.

The shrine is now riddled with corpses lying on pools of blood that comes from their own noses, then Rika shrieks and exclaims "oh no, what happened? Even the ice fairy!"

The sweet maid quickly points at the happy-looking, cat-faced, dark clothed kasha peeking her head with a "_nya_" and a wheelbarrow beside the open door and shouts "NOOOO~ Please go somewhere else miss!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Kasen's mansion/dojo has almost been fully restored, and the hermit isn't even back yet, which has given Drake the peace needed to both fix the house at his own pace and wind down from the intense battle.

His brown vest, which still lies on the kitchen floor, is full of holes and stained with blood, his bandana is now just a burned piece of funky multi-colored, color-changing cloth, and he's roaming around the house without a shirt, revealing a surprisingly well-toned body.

The left side of his face is covered in bandages, the wounds from Nue's trident have been treated and are properly bandaged, though strangely there's not a speck of blood on any of the bandages.

The holes on the walls of the third floor, kitchen and ground floor, and the holes on the third and second floors look like they never even happened, and the telescope, the oven, and one of the kitchen cabinets look brand new.

The boy is now inside Kasen's room with a rather blank stare on his face while raising his hands to chest height with the open palms facing down and walking around.

As he does he emanates a powerful, yet invisible wave of energy that expands only two feet from his body, but the vibration of the energy is so strong the dried blood on the floor, sheets and broken pieces of wood literally cleans right off in a second.

He sighs after having walked all over the room and the balcony, then looks at the hole on the wall between the two places, groans and face-palms, then reluctantly walks toward it.

Without concerning himself with the scattered lumber the god-in-training places his hands on the edges of the hole, closes his eyes, then takes a long and deep breath.

He now slides his hands around the hole and as he does the scattered lumber flies straight toward his hand and position themselves in a precise spot, and as soon as he passes his hands around that spot the hole becomes a wall again.

He does this for only thirty seconds and now the wall is fully fixed, yet he keeps his hands on it and pushes them through it without damaging it.

On the contrary to that, as he does this the wall cracks lightly and takes a clean-looking shine as well as gets stronger, and when he's finally done with the wall he pulls his hands back and sighs loudly.

"Good job," says Kasen from behind the boy who turns around in surprise as she says "now I'd love to hear the details as to why you had to recreate the walls and the floors in the first place, specifically after I told you NOT TO **DESTROY THE PLACE!**"

A vein pulsates on the hermit's forehead even though she smiles, but that's when she notices the bandages around the boy and completely changes her expression to worry, then asks "whoa! What happened?"

Drake closes his eye and says "I was attacked," then walks past Kasen and makes his way to the first floor.

The hermit follows him all the way to the kitchen with a curious stare that can't seem to leave her face.

"This girl came out of nowhere and took the shape of... of her..." says the boy as he kneels next to his broken vest and begins the process of reconstructing it the same way he did the rest of the house.

Kasen stands by the kitchen doorway and watches as the boy tries, but fails to hide a pained look on his face, and out of actual concern she asks "are you going to be alright?"

Drake lifts his head and gives a cold look to the hermit and coldly says "what's done is done."

He lifts his vest to inspect it and as he does he coldly says "she attacked me and I almost let her win, but I pushed on, used the best weapon types against those shape-shifters like her, and through the hardship of the battle I managed to win."

He points at his missing left eye and says "she took a good chunk of me with her," then notices the concerned stare on the hermit's eyes and says "but don't you worry about that. As we speak my eye is regenerating, but there is one thing."

Kasen watches as he removes his bandana and asks "so you can't fix that one?"

After placing the bandana on the dining room's table Drake looks at the hermit and says "these threads can't be recreated by magic alone, yet this bandana itself is magical. I need to find someone that can sew this back together while adding magical properties into the threads so that it won't break away."

There is a long pause between the two and it seems no answer will come, so the boy sighs and picks up his ruined bandana, walks past the hermit and heads toward the second floor, and when he's halfway through the large first-floor room Kasen says "I heard of this girl, a puppeteer magician. She may be able to help."

Drake turns around to look at Kasen, and said hermit gives him a strong stern look as she coldly says "she lives in one of the forests, though I can't remember exactly where, Drake. She can help, but she's not friendly to those who are not friend to her."

Obviously annoyed the godling asks "why are you telling me this in that tone?" while resting his broken vest on his right shoulder.

The hermit sighs, rubs her forehead, then says "because you've only shown me how unreliable and how prone to attacking others you are."

She raises her head and walks over to him while saying "you go about a world you don't know and assume everyone is against you!" and after reaching him she pokes him on his bare chest with her bandage-hand while saying "so this will be my last warning to you. Take it down a notch or two, defend yourself but don't overdo it, and for the love of Gensokyo, stop thinking all youkai are monsters that want to kill you for no reason."

After saying this the hermit walks past the god-in-training and heads toward the second floor, while said boy stays in place and thinks "_so far they have only shown me their dark side. I will try again Miss Kasen, but so help me I'm not going to give them the chance to take my life. Count on it._"

* * *

Shame.

This is what Ail is feeling right now after being placed in the center of a rather large meeting room at the Hieda's Mansion grounds.

His eyes hide in shadow, his lips stretch out on their own looking almost like some desperate attempt to smile, and all he wants now is to bury himself underground and come out with a new face after a few months have passed.

Directly in front of him are Akyuu herself to the left, Keine to the right, and between them is Kotohime, the self-proclaimed police officer of Gensokyo, and rabid collector or oddities.

She has long red hair tied around the back with a yellow ribbon, red eyes, and wears a large purple, blue and white kimono with red flowers designed on it.

To the left of the room are the angry-glaring store owners whose stores were damaged by little Budou's rampage the day before, and to the right are several elders, and all stare on with disappointment toward Ail.

Behind the spotlighted boy is Sanae, who holds on to the little culprit, while said adorable monster still holds Mima's bottle.

Phredia sits firmly on the bottle's cork to make sure the little girl doesn't open it and zaps the little bat's hand every time she tries to reach for the cork.

She drops the bottle every time she gets zapped, but picks it right up and tries again, and again, and now has an odd crazed look in her eyes as though high on drugs.

The maiden keeps trying to calm the little bat down so that she stops the silly attempts to free Mima, but said bat is in spirit withdrawal and is locked inside her own mind, which begs her to free the evil spirit so they can absorb more fear out of the human's spirits.

Kotohime takes a step toward Ail and loudly says "Anilan Inmodo Leuch! Yesterday you left a youkai known as Budou unattended and unsupervised in the village's shopping district."

There is a short pause before Keine says "I'm so disappointed in you," while shaking her head in disapproval, at the same time as Akyuu sighs and lowers her head while muttering "and I thought he was smarter than this."

"Yes, we're all very disappointed," says Kotohime while looking at the girls beside herself, then turns her sights back to the boy and angrily says "regardless of that, the seemingly sweet little youkai girl burned several store signs, terrorized various newcomers to the point of madness, AND used high-level danmaku, unauthorized, and thus punishable by the village's law."

There is a long pause after the cop-princess is done speaking before she walks over to the boy, stands right in front of him; she's a little taller than him; then asks "your defense?"

Ail raises his head and looks around himself with a courageous and resolute face, then says "I am ready to pay for all the damages Budou may have caused, and I'll see to it that she is properly dealt with to make sure she never attempts something like this again. However..."

He points straight at the bottled evil spirit the little bat holds and exclaims "she was coaxed by none-other than Mima to do these things, so it would be fair to divide the punishment!"

The room is filled with surprise gasps from all over while said spirit screams "objection! I'm innocent!" from her bottle, but her voice is completely ignored.

Kotohime points nervously at the bottle and asks "so she's sealed, right?", to which Ail nods and reassures her "Hakurei-brand sealing. Guaranteed to hold even the most annoying old hags in place, unless some idiot opens the bottle."

There is a loud plop, followed by Sanae's "oh dear," and with a rather unimpressed and un-amused look on her face Keine points behind the boy and asks "like that?"

The police-princess and the boy turn their attention to the knocked out fairy on the floor, the untied bat with an empty bottle next to her, the sexy green-haired shrine maiden floating in mid-air against her will, and the smiling evil spirit towering above all, turning her ghostly tail into a rattlesnake's tail.

"Juuuuust like that," says Ail as he points with his thumb at the freed spirit, and now the room is filled with panicked screams, running humans, and a cackling spirit with a snake tail.

Mima cackles manically while rattling her tail and shooting all sorts of lasers and bullets, then calls Budou to join in.

The little bat woos and swoops near the humans, making them scream with fright.

Kotohime grabs Ail by the collar of his shirt and starts shaking him around while furiously asking "**what the hell is wrong with you? Why did you give her the bottle, you idiot?**"

With waterfall tears flowing down his eyes the boy tries to answer, but something blunt impacts the back of his head, and now he is lying face-down on the floor with a bleeding bump on his head and many thoughts spinning inside his brain.

Mima tosses a blunt object behind herself, cackles, and wind starts blowing inside the room.

"How does Reimu deal with this woman?" cries Sanae from the back while Keine lifts the boy from the ground and exclaims "what kind of stupidity took over you? Why did you give Budou the bottle?"

Budou's wings can be heard flapping about as she laughs and woos all around the room.

"Ail, seriously, I need help!" cries Sanae from the back while Akyuu furiously shouts "if that ghost breaks my mansion down I'll have you rebuild the whole thing and rewrite my whole Chronicles Collection!"

"NOOOO! My panties!" cries a woman while the bat and the evil spirit wolf-whistle and cheer.

"That's it, I'm summoning Kanako here!" cries Sanae from the back while Kotohime slaps Ail across the face and says "and that doesn't save you from paying the repair to the shops and pay the psychology treatment for those poor newcomers!"

The dense one snaps his finger, there is a loud ***vwhom***, and both Mima and Budou get sucked inside a blue gap with ever-staring eyes and disappear from the room, freeing Sanae from the magical bindings, stopping the magical winds, and returning the woman's pink panties that flutter all the way from the ceiling to her hands.

The accusing girls look at the dense boy with curiosity and wonder, but before they can ask he says "they are trapped in the void until they settled down."

A blue-sleeved hand pokes the left shoulder of the boy, who is unaware of the shocked and terrified faces from the three accusing girls, then he himself twitches at the sight of Mima with her normal ghost tail, holding Budou on her hands and smiling back at him.

She combs the little girl's hair and casually says "news-flash kid, you aint Yukari," then flies to the double-doors, tackles them open, and flies away with the cute little hyper bat on her hands.

Angry smiles from all over the room aim their piercing silent accusations at Ail, who tries to say "bu-bu-but she took... I mean, we didn't give her the bottle and... um, it was an ac-"

"I'll get my wallet," he says with a sad smile on his face, knowing quite well he failed miserably with this and to the knowledge of his wallet getting thinner; _and after all that pain-in-the-ass saving_; because of his little daughter, a crazy evil spirit, and his own foolishness.

"And don't think this is over Ail, after this I want you to get that girl and bring her to me, you understand?" demands Keine while at the same time Akyuu exclaims "you only get to see such level of irresponsibility every thousand years or so, but I never thought it'd be YOU, of all people!"

All the boy can do is nod with a sad smile while reading through Kotohime's report of the damages and pulling cash out of his wallet, all while Sanae and said cop-princess watch him from behind, then the princess asks "this is some sort of divine prank, right?"

The maiden smile, chuckles, then nervously says "I, uh, don't know. I don't think so," then she looks away with guilty eyes as she thinks "_can't help but feel this is slightly my fault. I mean, I did convince him to let her on her own and all. Well, I'm not saying it out loud._"

* * *

Meanwhile, Rika, Cirno, Leon, and Lina who holds to the still unconscious Koakuma, land at the shore of the mansion's island where the ice fairy exclaims "come on miss angel Rika lady! You have to meet Daiyousei!"

The eager little fairy pulls on the maid's arm as said woman giggles and says "alright, alright, just a moment," then looks toward the twins as though asking for permission.

"Go ahead. We'll wait for you here," says Leon as he and his sister bow their heads, then the girl takes her sexy pet with her, sits under a tree, then rests the demon's head on her lap and starts combing her hair with her hand.

In the maid's mind a sudden image of herself doing the very same with Reimu, then with Tenshi, makes her gasp with surprise, but she recovers herself rather quickly, smiles, and bows back at the twins while allowing the ice fairy to pull her away.

In just two minutes of walking the girls reach a part of the lake's shore that's filled with many beautiful flowers, and at the edge of the water are Kimi and Kali bullying Daiyousei.

Kali, the evil-but-weak shadow's shadow, has long wavy white hair and red eyes, and wears a golden necklace, a purple sleeveless shirt under an open dark-blue vest with silver borders, and a long black skirt that covers her black ghostly tail.

She holds the great fairy by locking her arms around said fairy's underarms while Kali tickles the poor girl's nose with a fluffy cattail.

"Where's the ice fairy? I won't stop until you tell me where she is little morsel," calmly says the shadow dragon while continuing the torture procedure.

"I don't know~!" cries the poor fairy as she tries to kick around to free herself.

Daiyousei, the seemingly sweet great fairy, has short green hair tied to a side-ponytail with a yellow ribbon, blue eyes, a pair of golden wings, and wears a simple blue dress with a white stripe on the lower border.

"Dai-chan!" exclaims Cirno, then her entire body trembles with justified rage, she dashes toward her friends and attacker, regardless of the maid's advice to not do that, and when she and Kimi meet eye-to-eye once again she furiously says "you leave Dai-chan alone before I beat you up again!"

The shadow dragon's smile stretches from cheek to cheek with shiny jagged teeth, her face becomes feral, and she raises her arms with anticipation.

Kali gulps and says "er, this is where I get off again," and releases the fairy to run away.

Daiyousei wastes no time in flying away from the area, but not before pulling down on her left eyelid and sticking out her tongue at her assailants.

The shadow, on the other hand, has stopped her retreat when she comes across Rika, and the fear of getting cut to pieces again shuts her every nerve down.

The maid waves and sweetly says "Miss Kali, I see you're being a naughty thing again," then said maid turns a stern face toward the ice fairy and shadow dragon with a gasp, frightening the shadow girl so much she jumps in the lake and swims away, forgetting she can fly.

Meanwhile, Cirno and Kimi continue to face off, but neither makes a move.

"That noisy ice thing won't save you this time!" declares the ice fairy while pointing at the dragon girl.

"It's not polite to point," casually replies the orange-haired girl as she takes a step back, then stares far to happily at the fairy and says "and now, let's FINISH what we started that night, you little bitch."

After saying this she glows for a second and takes her giant snake-dragon form and says "whatever luck spared you last time won't save you NOW!"

She lunges forward with her mouth as widely open as possible and Cirno curls up into a quivering ball that shoots small icicles in the dragon's mouth.

The little shivering fairy feels something soft push her hard, and now Rika stands in front of a giant dragon's open mouth with a stern look on her face.

Kimi stops the second the maid's scent reaches her, then turns back into a human and asks "Lady Onkamikami, why did you stop the fight? We only just started!"

The winged maid sighs and relaxes her face, places her hands on her waist, then looks at Kimi while tapping her left foot impatiently, then says "I come here and find you picking on an innocent fairy, and then you try eating this sweet little ice fairy, and you still ask me why I stopped the fight? I am very disappointed in you."

The sword on Rika's belt lets out a low-frequency growl only Kimi and the angel-winged maid can hear, and now the dragon girl has her lips stretched with embarrassment, her cheeks have turned pink, and her eyes have turned docile.

The maid looks with embarrassment at her sword and softly says "b-but I won't do such a thing! I-I'm just scolding her so she won't do that again."

The dragon girl's eyes hide under the shadow of her hair while beads of sweat roll down her forehead, and says "no, it's alright miss Rika. My lord is right. P-please forgive me. I-I'll behave now."

The maid notices when the girl's face turns blue and slowly walks away, grabs her sheath as though trying to choke the sword through it, then exclaims "what did you do, what did you tell her? You can't just offer threats without my knowledge like that!"

Kimi completely ignores this scene, forgets about the whole incident with the ice fairy, and with drooping arms she walks away, disappearing from the area the second she hides behind a tree.

The dazed little ice fairy, whom seems got smashed against a rock, staggers all the way toward Rika, clings on to her skirt for fear of falling, then says "ayeya scared her away, heheh."

The maid places her sword where it belongs on her belt, picks up the little fairy from the ground, then holds her back so she doesn't fall off and says "come on Miss Cirno, let's go back to the Koris. They must be getting impatient."

The ice fairy chuckles weakly, lets herself drop on the maid's shoulder, then wraps her little arms around said girl's neck and falls asleep.

* * *

And so, after rejoining the twins and the still unconscious Koakuma the odd party make their way to the library.

"We're back Patchouli my love~!" calls Leon the very second he opens the dual doors to the massive dark library.

The purple magician is all the way at the very back of the library, sitting in front of a large round table with a book held close to her face, probably due to how dark it is over there.

She groans inward when she hears that annoying voice, slowly pulls her book away from herself with an annoyed, irritated, disturbed, and _obviously unhappy_ face, then says to herself "useless washtub didn't slow them down after all."

"Sorry for intruding," rings the soft and soothing voice of Rika through the books and all around the air of the dark library.

Patchouli smiles after hearing her voice and says to herself "well, she came along, so I guess it's alright."

She gets up from the round table to greet her nuisances and her guest, but quickly feels her legs aren't responding as they should.

She sighs and rolls her eyes, then angrily says "Leon, you little twerp, let go of my damned legs or I'll-"

"You'll what now Patchy?" asks the jagged-grinned vampire mistress who has her arms wrapped around the ankles of the witch.

Before the purple girl can react Remilia's grin widens and says "those are some sexy panties you got on. You really were expecting **him**, weren't you. How lewd you can be."

Red and purple become the new temporary colors of the librarian, and with all her might, her rage, and an unholy load of embarrassment she screams "**GET OFF MY GODDAMNED CASE SCARLET! And give me back my _bloomers!_**"

The powerful scream causes the entire library to rumble, and Koakuma to moan as her consciousness returns, and now the sound of fire and explosions take the usually quiet room.

The little devil smacks her lips and rubs her throbbing head, half-opens her eyes to look around, moans and flinches when her head throbs hard, then asks "wh-where are we?"

Moments later, thanks to Rika's efforts, evident because of her singed hands, Remilia and Patchouli have been dealt with and now kneels on the carpeted floor in the center of the library.

Said girls are covered with burn marks, their dresses are riddled with holes, and both share a displeased look as they stare at the frowning maid.

Cirno stands several feet away from them behind Leon and Lina, both which stare at her with longing, and Koakuma and Sakuya have just arrived with trays of bandages and first aid kits to tend to their respective mistresses.

"...And don't let me catch you fighting like that again. Friends don't fight friends to the death, especially **my** friends!" exclaims the shrine maid while swinging her finger around the air and pointing it toward the girls.

While Rika lectures them on about proper friendship behavior, Patchouli sighs and softly says "well Koa, it seems you succeeded on helping her come back to her senses."

"Actually, um...," the little devil hesitates to speak, but a stern glare from her mistress convinces her to reconsider, then says "well, it was the twins. The little sneaks found her and after they talked she came around."

The purple bean sprout stares at the Kori twins, which stare unblinkingly at the ice fairy, regardless of her terrified pleas for them to stop, then says "hmph. I guess they're good for something."

Remilia chuckles while Sakuya wraps a bandage around her left wing and says "looks like you want him for more than just sweet candy."

Patchouli grabs the vampire by the neck, the mistress wraps her right arm around the magician's neck, they both stare daggers at each other, then Rika shouts "are you even **listening** to me? This is exactly what I'm talking about!"

The girls instantly release each other and look to the ground with a cute little pout and an adorable upward glance and say "sorry," at the same time.

"**MAMA**," exclaim the twins excitedly, and Cirno screams and flies straight to Rika's arms and cries "they're creeping me out! They say I'm their mom! I'm not a mom, I'm a fairy!"

Before the shrine maid can input her opinion the twins flock around her and start pulling on her skirt and wings, and Leon calls "but you are our mama, mama!"

"Please come down! We just want a hug. Please?" begs Lina as she hugs the shrine maid's waist as an example.

Rika blushes a bit while saying "wait, what's this? Um, please stop that. She's getting scared."

The ice fairy tries to climb up the angel-winged girl's head in an attempt to escape, despite the shrine maid's attempts to pull her back down, then the twins decide to try and climb up the poor girl, then she nervously calls "um, c-can someone help, please?"

"Oi, ice twins. Stand down," calmly commands Remilia, and the Kori twins immediately stop what they are doing, get off Rika, and stand in attention in front of the vampire.

"Good," purrs the mistress after standing up, then inspects the twins and says "so it's that fairy, huh? Well even if she is your mother, you can't just do as you please."

She looks at the way that fairy clings on to the white-blooded maid and says "besides, it looks to me like she's going to be hanging around the Hakurei shrine for a while."

"That's great," exclaims Leon while clenching his fists and cocking both arms beside himself, then continues "I learned how to get there, so with my love's permission, I'd like to visit there!"

Lina nods and smiles with excitement along with her brother toward the pondering vampire, unaware of the look of vile satisfaction on the purple magician's face.

"I'll only allow it if you finish tomorrow's morning chores early," replies the mistress while glancing over to Sakuya, who bows and says "I will make sure that it is done as My Lady requests."

The eager twins cheer and Lina says "we get to see mama at the shrine!"

Leon holds his sisters cupped hands and happily says "this will be great, sis! We get a mama and two aunts!"

Cirno looks down from Rika's safe hands and angrily says "you two keep away from me!" while the shrine maid giggles and scratches the fairy's head, making her relax and giggle along.

Said winged maid smiles dearly at the vampire and says "you really are a sweet girl, aren't you Miss Remilia."

The Mistress flaps her wings furiously out of nervousness, then exclaims "d-don't take me lightly! I-I just like rewarding hard-working servants, that's all!"

Sakuya chuckles and says "my lady is the kindest, isn't she?"

Remilia growls and complains, but Patchouli remains lost in her own thoughts, scheming something behind a wry smile.

"Oh," exclaims the magician after suddenly recovering herself, then looks to the shrine maid and says "Miss Rika, before you go. Could you please tell Ail to come by? I wish to have a little... conversation with him."

The angel-winged girl smiles, bows with Cirno still on her arms; said fairy has those wonderfully perfect pearls bumping on her right now; then says "with pleasure Miss Patchouli. Now then, Miss Koakuma, Mister Leon and Miss Lina have been returned safely. If you'll excuse us, it is time we returned to the shrine."

Meanwhile, at the Human Village, Kyo, Ail and Sanae fly over the village's markets for the nth time looking for Budou and Mima, but no luck.

The shrine maiden holds Phredia against her chest, since said lucky elf fairy is glowing blue with depression and doesn't even want to try and fly at the moment.

Kyo is wearing what looks like a microphone and receiver with the white **NKP **(Nitori Kappa) brand on the earpiece, and as he holds the microphone away from his lips he nods and says "understood. We'll do one more round."

He looks at his dense friend and his cute girlfriend and says "nothing on their end either. Sorry bud, but they just ain't here."

Ail growls inward and says "when I catch that spirit she's going to wish she was still in that bottle."

A heart flies near Sanae's face as she stares dreamily toward her silently angry man, then whispers to the fairy "oh-hu-hu. He's got that look in his eyes again."

The dense one twitches and quickly looks at the girl and that hungry smile of hers, then shivers with fear as he thinks "s_omething tells me I have to watch my back around her._"

Kyo stares at the lovebirds, grins, then says "I recommend you attack him during the night, and Ail, you make sure you mom's drunk before Sanae jumps you in the tub. Ya got that?"

The dense boy and the wind priestess stare at the grinning fool with hot red cheeks and ears, and murderous twinkles in their eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Eintei in the afternoon, Mystia sits by the entrance to the mansion with a look of expectancy and longing on her face.

"Hragh. Little sparrow we already told you, we'll let you know when she returns," impatiently says Reisen the second she walks out of the mansion.

The night sparrow glances sadly upward at the moon rabbit and softly cries "but-but I miss Yorihime-chan"

Blood spurts out the sexy bunny's nose after such low blow, and quickly her head meets the floor after her body falls void of consciousness while her mind drifts in everlasting bliss, totally unaware of having stained Tewi Inaba's dress and face with blissful blood-gush.

The black rabbit of Eintei smiles with murderous glints that take both her eyes while she stares at her white rabbit partner as she slowly gets up after regaining her consciousness.

"Wha... what happened to me?" asks Reisen as she holds her head whilst shaking lightly to recover, and after she looks at Tewi and that massive wooden mallet she holds, she wishes she was still knocked out in bliss.

"Erm, T-Tewi? Wh-why... what's with that mallet? And why are you covered in bloo-"

"Divine retribution against the curvy bunny!" viciously exclaims the black rabbit as she winds her mallet as far as her body will allow her.

Reisen's body freezes and all she can do is scream, all while Mystia ignores the two to resume her vigilance for Yorihime's return.

Meanwhile, Drake lands right in front of the entrance gate leading to the Bamboo Forest's mansion and looks around while flapping his dark-blue shirt to vent off the summer heat.

"Hmm, no tower. Nope, this isn't Alice's house after all. Ugh, I better ask for directions here."

He takes a few cautious steps toward the gate, and is greeted by the back-end of Tewi's mallet after she misses Reisen's screaming head, and then is quickly slammed with overkilling force against the white moon rabbit's back after the black rabbit's powerful swing strikes him with the mallet between the eyes.

After sighing with satisfaction the lucky prankster sets her massive mallet on her right shoulder and says "haa, Earth one, Moon zero."

She takes a better look at the pile in front that should be Reisen and quickly notices the extra in this picture, then gasps and gulps, throws away her mallet to rid herself of the evidence, then calls "hey, look at what the Udonge just found!"

And so, while she waits for her backup to arrive she stares at the pathetic sight of the dazed godling with the red bruise on his face from the mallet, and the semi-conscious pancaked moon rabbit beneath him, all while hiding away any traces of the glee she currently feels.

Moments later, Drake finds himself holding and ice pack against his nose and flinching as he does while thinking "_blast, and I just recovered my eye too. Little rabbit's going to pay for this._"

Reisen approaches the boy with a mug of green tea on a tray and an apologetic face, and after placing the mug on the table beside him she says "I'm terribly sorry for Tewi's actions. Please accept our sincerest apologies, mister..."

"Drake," grumbles the boy while shooting the dirtiest glance at the black rabbit of Eintei and her blood-stained dress.

"Hey, where's MY cup of tea Udonge," demands the irritated rabbit before quickly adding "and you still gotta clean **my** dress from **your** blood!"

Without much thought the youkai rabbit begins pulling up on her own dress, to which Reisen yelps and throws the empty tray to the air, where the god-in-training easily catches it while shooting that same dirty look at the moon rabbit.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING! TEWI, THERE'S A MAN PRESENT!" screams the moon rabbit while pulling down on the earth rabbit's dress.

"Stop it Reisen! I got nothing to hide anyway! ...Unlike you, jiggle bunny!" says the trickster while pointing at the moon rabbit's breasts.

Reisen screeches, blushes, and covers herself while doing her best to look away from their guest.

Tewi's mischievous smile quickly turns straight as she takes a strong defensive stance and snaps her fingers to summon six rabbits to her.

Drake has started emanating that energy of his and is unsettling everyone, and now Tewi and the other youkai rabbits tremble while using all their strength to keep themselves on their feet, and all the moon rabbit feels is an uncomfortable tickle all over her chest.

She looks at the rabbit youkai, then at the godlin's murderous glare, then cautiously asks "h-hey you guys? Wh-what's going on here?"

Meanwhile, somewhere in the deepest parts of the Forest of Magic, where the sunlight is blocked by the leaves of the many clustered trees, Byakuren sits in a meditative state in the center of a small clearing.

Her serene face is disturbed when a light frown forces the corner of her lips to bend down, and with a quick gasp she opens her eyes.

She quickly falls face-down on the ground as though some unseen force has pushed her down, and as if just having been woken up from a deep sleep, the magician monk untangles her legs from underneath and pushes herself up, taking a deep breath as she does, then groans after stretching her back a bit.

She looks around herself to regain her bearing, sits herself upright, then looks up at the towering trees and asks "I'm being blocked? But... whom? How? That can only happen if-"

The thought of herself being tainted crosses her mind.

Uncertainty fills her eyes while she picks up her legs and hugs her knees.

A loud sob escapes her as she thinks "_Byakuren Hijiri has been tainted by self doubt. I- ...I'm no use to anyone anymore._"

She gulps to suppress her sobs, stands up as straight as she can, then begins to walk toward no particular destination, making a trail of silent tears that wet the ground below her feet.

* * *

At that very moment, Rika and Cirno arrive at the Hakurei Shrine at the very same time as Ail, Sanae and Phredia.

They all land in front of the empty donation box and immediately the angel-winged maid says "oh dear. It went that bad, I can see it all over your eyes."

The couple and the elf fairy nod slowly after the bull's-eye comment, then the green-haired maiden says "Mima and Budou went into hiding."

"I'm going to have to have a word with the both of them when I find them," adds Ail while trying to hide his annoyance with a smile, but now looks rather creepy.

His creepy smile turns to a confused stare similar to the blue and white when they hear Rika cooing "there, there, you poor elf fairy. Budou will be alright. Shh, don't cry, you didn't fail."

The girl gently holds the tiny sobbing fairy on her chest as she combs her soft and smooth blonde hair to comfort her, and it doesn't take long for Cirno to step closer and gently tap the elf fairy on the head to show her own support.

This endearing scene is brought to an rather rude and abrupt halt after Sanae shouts "ugh! Get your clingy hands off him Hakurei!"

Reimu has snaked her way to Ail's right and has wrapped her hands all around the boy's arms, and now rests her head on said boy's shoulder and sighs contently.

The green-haired girl takes the boy's left after undoing the black-haired girl's hands, and just like that the two begin a sissy hand-slap fight right in front of their intended target, a target that looks annoyed enough to melt bricks by just looking at them.

Rika sighs and asks "big brother Ail, are you alright?" while looking at him with an embarrassed smile.

The boy smiles back, though disturbingly agitated, raises his right fist which trembles with rage, evident for the vein pulsating on it, and with a primal rage-scream the boy sends the two girls flying away.

"Listen you two, Budou is missing, and if you haven't noticed she's gone bat-shit insane! And to make matters worse, she's with MIMA, who keeps instigating that behavior! Now, no more of this whatever-squabble until she's found!"

Holy danmaku from both side is the response he gets, which comes from the two swooning maidens beside him.

"Ahhh, he's quite the man," exclaims the red and white while placing her hands on her sticker-blush cheeks and skillfully throwing talismans at the boy.

"Mmm, sends shivers all over my body whenever he's so assertive like that," adds the blue and white while swaying her shivering body around and holding her pink cheeks with her hands at the same time as she throws a few more charms of her own.

Both girls quickly switch to dangerously furious simultaneously shout "**but if you attack me like that again I'll break your neck, Ail!**"

They look at each other through the smoke cloud where the boy should be and simultaneously shout "**hey, you can't threaten him like that!**"

And so a battle takes place.

Suzaku flies from the sky straight to Rika's shoulder and joins in watching the girls fight over the boy they just blasted and telepathically says "_one has to wonder if they just love him, or love him to the death._"

Rika nods, and the dense one appears between her and Cirno, and says "they won't listen to me. Look I promised to tell you about Byakuren. That is why I'm here."

"Wait, let me make some tea so we can talk-"

"No, listen!", exclaims Ail, cutting off the sweet maid "I want to hurry this up so I can go to Mugenkan and free those girls. _Curse me and my promising of things!_ Then I'm off to find Budou and Mima."

Rika nods and allows Phredia to fly to Ail's shoulder as he says "listen, this Drake Starstriker guy went to Myouren and said some terrible things to Byakuren and made her doubt herself and her dreams..."

He waits for the maid to absorb the bit of information and continues "...There was a fight, she kicked him out of the temple, but seems he managed to eat through her mind. Now she's left the temple in search for answers, probably to reassure herself of her chosen path."

Again he waits for Rika to take in what he said, and after she nods he continues "she thinks she needs to be alone, but like Shou I think she needs someone to open her eyes again. I know I offered to help, but with Budou gone I think I'm going to have to prioritize on finding her first."

"Don't worry," says Rika with a resolute look on her face. "I'll find her and help her as best as I can. I'm sure my lady won't mind."

The maid, boy and two fairies look up at the battlefield on the sky and stare at the many pretty patterns, and after a loud boom a cloud of smoke that comes with a couple of screeches covers their sight.

While the maidens continue their fight, the grounded group stare at the smoke cloud before their feet with curiosity, then from behind it Marisa angrily shouts "of all the lazy, half-assed incident resolving-! Reimu, I have a bone to pick with you!"

The onlookers blink twice when Alice's voice comes through as she says "I already told you I won't do it again! Besides, you did a good job at saving me already!"

Shanghai quickly screams "Kirisame, I'm going to cut you if you don't **shut up!** And stop complaining! You shouldn't enter people's houses to steal books in the first place!"

The black and white and the puppeteer are currently kneeling on the ground and pulling on each others' cheeks while Alice's little girls fly around them in circles, the one in blue fuming, and the one in red distressed.

After the cloud dissipates completely, Hourai flies away from the girls, clings behind Rika's neck and cries "make them stop! They keep fighting and threatening each other, and me!"

Ail groans with impatience and annoyance while covering his eyes with his hand, then exclaims "this shrine is unbe**lie**vable!"

Rika smacks the back of the boy's head and angrily says "do not speak ill of miss Reimu's home, please."

The boy points up at the fighting maidens with his right hand, points at the bickering witches right in front of them on the ground with his left, then says "look at me in the eyes and tell me THIS isn't normal here, **then** I'll stop saying it."

The maid smiles, a small vein pulsates on the left side of her forehead, she looks at Suzaku on her shoulder, both nod at each other, then the bird raises her wings, the maid raises her left foot, then she stomps the ground at the very moment the bird begins to screech, and the loud thwomp from the stomp and the screech mix to make a nasty shockwave that momentarily paralyzes everyone in front of her.

The fighting maidens, the bickering magicians, and the tiny girl in blue stare at the shrine maid, and after all eye are straight on her she smiles as she sweetly says "people, this is a shrine, so let's cut the unnecessary ruckus and talk it over like civilized people."

Marisa points at Reimu and angrily says "she didn't take that holy book from Alice," then points at the puppeteer "and this idiot tried a failed experiment a second time, and took ME all day to knock her back to her senses! I DEMAND RETRIBUTION!"

The puppeteer growls while placing her hands on her waist and shouts "well I didn't ASK you to save me in the first place! You just wanted to steal a book for yourself anyway!"

The witches aim to resume their face-stretching fight, but Sanae grabs Alice, Reimu grabs Marisa, and Ail grabs Shanghai before the fight can resume.

They all stare at each other, turning their heads around to take a good look, and then they all chuckle as though nothing is happening.

"**Stop squeezing my sister, you pervert!**" shouts Hourai before kicking the boy on the back of the head, then Cirno tackles the little girl to the ground while shouting "DOG-PILE!" and thus the bickering resumes on this peaceful Hakurei Shrine.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Eintei Mansion, Reisen stands between Tewi and Drake as they continue glaring at each other and raising the tension in the room.

The boy can see the distress in the moon rabbit's face, so he does his best to calm himself down and says "look, I'll get out of your hairs now, but maybe you can help me... Miss Reisen."

The sexy bunny looks a bit confused, but nods and quickly says "y-yes, I'll try to help."

"I am looking for a magician said to be able to infuse her threads with magic. I was told she lives in a forest, in a house that has a small tower attached to it. Can you tell me where it is?"

As he asks the question he sends a dirty look at the prankster rabbit, who does the same in return.

Hoping to lessen the tension the nervous moon rabbit smiles and says "you are looking for Alice Margatroid then. She lives at the Forest of Magic, and you are currently at the Bamboo Forest of the Lost."

Seems it's working now that Drake's placing his attention on the moon rabbit, so feeling a bit more confident Reisen continues "you need to go back to the village, though I recommend you fly out of here or you'll get lost easily. Once at the village you will find the Forest of Magic with ease. It's full of magical residue from the mushroom spores. You can't miss it."

"Thank you very much miss," says the boy while bowing slightly.

To Reisen's great relief the boy immediately turns around and aims to take off, but before he leaves he turns around, points at Tewi, then says "and be sure to keep that **thing** on a leash next time! She's a menace!"

To the alien's distress, the rabbit youkai leader doesn't take the godling's accusations lightly and furiously shouts back "just get the hell out of here before I kick you out by force, butt-face!"

"Tewi, what's the matter with you?" exclaims the moon rabbit as she grabs hold of her partner.

"Wait. I know you," casually says Drake while standing just a step away from the two rabbits before continuing "...yes, you. I heard about you from one of the gods. You are the trickster that managed to outsmart a god, ages ago."

"Yeah, so?" defiantly barks the rabbit.

Drake smiles, though his smile isn't out of admiration, but out of some vile sense of redemption for the fooled god, thinking it might score him a few good points with the other gods, and says "how pathetic. A genius trickster like you, reduced to a mere childish prankster, picking on a few nameless fools without gaining a thing in return. Oh, just wait 'till I tell the other gods! You'll be the laughingstock of us all."

The earth rabbit snarls at the godling and so do her several companions, whom promptly take human shapes, all with long cute pink or white dresses and black or blond hair, yet looking fierce with glowing red eyes.

"Oh, so the years have made you senile. You think you can take on a god and win, don't you?" asks the boy in a sinister tone.

Reisen's face turns feral and she quickly jumps in front of the boy and demands "Stop i-GAAH!", but Tewi herself kicks the moon rabbit out of the way and charges straight at the boy's face with raised claws, backed up by danmaku from her rabbit comrades.

The boy continues to smile as the rabbit and the bullets get closer to him, enraging the little prankster even more.

"TEWI," calls one of the youkai rabbits from within the house, and following several explosions from the bullets Drake flies out of the house with the earth rabbit leader in his arms.

She grunts as she struggles to break free, mouthing curses at the boy who keeps smiling with amusement.

"How feeble you are," sinisterly whispers the godling while holding the earth rabbit's arms spread above her head and dangles her in mid-air while saying "ho-ho~ to think I'm just using two percent of my strength to hold you down. Tell me, how does it feel to be so pathetic?"

The rabbit youkai sniffles, grunts when she tries to break free again, then swings her body forward and kicks the boy on the face with both feet, but her impact causes no damage to him.

He shakes her around like an old blanket and says "so weak. No wonder you need to trick others to survive. You'd be eaten live if you tried anything else."

The group of youkai rabbits catch up to the boy, and with four pulling on each arm they manage to free Tewi from his grasp.

The depressed prankster silently falls eight feet to the ground, lands on her knees, then starts to sniffle and cry as she grabs a fistful of dirt and punches the ground.

Reisen runs straight toward the youkai rabbit, shouting "Tewi! Are you alright? Te-"

She stops and looks at the crying girl sitting on her knees and punching the ground until her fingers bruise, then slowly approaches her, only to stop at the sound of the other youkai rabbits screaming in horror after the horrendous sound of cracking bones.

The moon rabbit covers her mouth with her hands as she gasps with horror the very moment she looks up to the sky.

The vicious god-in-training holds a blonde and a brunette rabbit girl by their necks and absorbs all the magic out of their bodies, surrounds them with an anti-magic barrier, then throws the limp corpses right in front of Tewi.

Without even realizing what she's done, Reisen's face turns viciously feral, her eyes glow brightly, and Drake looks around himself without moving an inch.

"Zhinka! Kara!" cries out the youkai rabbit leader to the right of the moon rabbit, who winces at the sound of the sobs and wails of her usually peppy partner.

A sense of dread fills the moon rabbit when she looks to her right at the bodies of her fallen comrades and the sight of Tewi crying like a hurt and lost child, and in a mere instant that dread she was feeling becomes hatred.

"Reisen, was it?" asks the confused boy in the sky, who looks straight at the moon rabbit and coldly asks "you think it's wise to try and fight me?"

The remaining youkai rabbits fly away when they see the purple-haired girl raise a spell card, and she shouts "Lunar Eyes, Tele-Mesmerism! Send him to HELL!"

A powerful wave escapes the moon rabbit's card, her feral eyes glow intensely, and the immediate area around Drake becomes a thick curtain of white bullets coming from the left and right that mercilessly blast the boy anywhere they touch.

The god in training curls up into a ball and covers his face as he grunts from the stinging pain caused by the countless bullets.

The moon rabbit wants to smile, but her hatred prevents her from doing anything other than glower towards her target and intensify her spell to make the bullets larger.

She gasps after a blinding flash from the boy's hand cancels her spell and negates her lunatic eyes, and now looks in horror at the unnaturally strong boy standing in front of her and holding her by the neck.

He tightens his grip and says "I didn't have quarrels with any of you, but you all interfered with that trickster's punishment. Now you'll share the same fate as your subbordi-"

He releases Reisen and slowly raises his hands and casually says "well, it's nice to see someone as experienced as me."

Relief fills the moon rabbit when her master's voice reaches her, even though she speaks sinisterly as she says "this arrow has artificial Lumian blood, and is mixed with water from the River of Theramen. Take but a single breath without permission and I'll free you of this body, mister _god in training_."

Eirin stands behind the frozen godling with a prepped arrow half an inch away from his neck, her left leg is positioned for a perfect countermeasure should he try moving to the right, and to the left of them are the remaining six youkai rabbits he couldn't kill, all eagerly waiting for the attack order.

Kaguya stands under the doorway into the mansion with serene fury visible through her eyes.

She slowly aims her head toward the murderer and says "you are no longer welcome in this mansion or this forest. You will leave immediately, but know this, though we allow you escape from your punishment, keep ever present the knowledge that we will hunt you down until you pay for your atrocious crime."

The moon rabbit wants to complain, and so does the Lunarian Doctor, but when she lowers her bow she can see a dagger made out of Reisen's own energy on the boy's hand, strategically placed on a blind spot and aimed straight at her heart.

The boy casually shrugs after dropping the energy knife, then takes flight toward the exit of the forest, but before he's out of earshot he loudly says "if you had just butted out I wouldn't have had to get so violent. Just wanted to shake the little rabbit a bit, that's all. Oh well, those souls are in a better place now."

Kaguya's rage becomes evident after he face twists with blind fury as she takes in a deep breath, and with all that rage she shouts "**_LEAVE!_**"

Drake shrugs again, as though not having done a thing, then turns around and whistles a tune as he casually flies away.

* * *

Tewi's sobs reach Reisen once again, and the moon rabbit rushes to her friend's side, only to be grasped by the neck by Eirin's hand.

The pharmacist effortlessly raises the rabbit above her own head and uses every single ounce of her physical strength to slam the girl on the ground on her back, making her cough out a bit of blood and imprint her frame on the dirt.

"You should have summoned me the **second** you felt those energy waves Udonge! You should have **summoned** me immediately Udonge!" furiously shouts the Lunarian doctor.

Even though she's being pressed against the ground the moon rabbit manages to speak under her own breath "but... didn't know... You can, ack... you c-"

"They are **dead** Udonge!" roars the woman, "I can't do anything for them now _Udonge!_ Your lack of proper judgment cost two lives Udonge! You put the princess' life in **danger Udonge!**"

Kaguya has stealthily walked behind Eirin, places her hand on the doctor's shoulder, and the woman immediately calms down, releases the moon rabbit, the bows apologetically and says "princess, forgive me. You shouldn't have seen something like that."

The black haired Lunarian shakes her head and softly says "please deal with the Inabas first," then she raises her voice so all the rabbits in area can hear her "as for that boy, if he ever shows his face around these parts again you are to report to Eirin immediately! Do not fight him!"

After saying this, she nods to the silver-haired woman and slowly makes her way into the mansion.

Soon after Kaguya disappears through the doorway Eirin shoots an angry glare at Reisen and says "I will deal with **you** later. This will be the last time you make a mistake like this."

The moon rabbit sits up, but keep her head lowered as she nods.

She motions to get up and deal with her fallen youkai rabbit friends, but the Lunarian doctor lifts her hand to stop her and says "wait! The shinigami is coming."

The rabbit stares at her master's feet with a mixture of sadness and confusion, and when she risks looking up to the woman's face she's surprised at seeing Komachi smiling and floating above her and her master's head with the spirits of the fallen rabbits flying around her.

The shinigami's smile fills with a bit of pity when looking at the faces of those below her, then says "come on, death isn't really as bad as people picture it. I'm sure these two will be judged fairly by-"

"That's not it," interrupts Eirin. "I need you to relay a message to your boss. It concerns the unfortunate events that transpired here today."

The shinigami looks on toward the aliens with the outmost curiosity, then nods and asks "okay? Um, what's the message?"

Later that night, Komachi runs as though the devil himself were on her heels, followed closely by the rabbit's spirits.

She heads straight toward he boss' courtroom with an urgent look on her face, bursts through the massive gates making a loud bang, and she shouts "Eiki-sama, Eiki-sama!"

Papers fly all around Shikieiki's podium, and it's quite evident the yama was caught off-guard.

Evident mostly because of her shivering feet raised over the podium itself.

The Yama of Paradise slowly resets herself on her chair, and remains unaware of her hat tilted to the left of her head as she angrily says "there better be a very good reason you just interrupted my work, Komachi. Now out with it, I am quite busy!"

The shinigami takes a deep breath, and as rapidly as her lips allow she says "Drake Starstriker the boy from Lumia who is undergoing the gods' trials is in Gensokyo and is causing quite a mess out there and he killed a couple of youkai rabbits a few hours ago and is on Einten's black list, Eiki, MA'AM!"

The yama's lips stretch to form a smile, her left eye twitches uncontrollably, her right hand becomes a fist, and she raises that fists, smashes a hole through her desk, then asks "what **else** could be happening out there that we're unaware of?"

"Miss Eiki," whispers the Shinigami, and after getting her boss' attention she says "The Lunarian doctor that lives in that maze told me to reassure you that Drake did not enter via gap from Ail or Yukari. She says that Reimu says that he entered here via _that vehicle_."

Shikieiki face palms so hard her forehead turns red, then she growls inward, lets her head drop on what's left of the desk, then says "they sent him here in regards of the training. I'm going to have to have a word with the higher ups, now."

Komachi's face turns paler than usual upon looking at the understandably annoyed face of her boss.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library, Patchouli sits with an unamused and annoyed face on her desk, where an open book lies and begs to be read.

She would like nothing more than to indulge in the book's request, if it weren't for the light-blue haired boy staring dreamily at her from the left of that desk with those icy-blue eyes of his.

She growls inward. Koakuma and Lina are too close, and the little demon has taken a great liking to the little devils of ice for some odd reason, and doing something to the boy now will only cost her.

To her luck Remilia is having a sister moment with Flandre, and Sakuya is making sure they aren't going to end up killing each other, so if she's going to make a move it might as well be now.

She gets up from the desk and angrily says "I'm reading somewhere else. Koakuma, mark this page before closing my book, and make sure to clean up this place or so help me I'm cursing your bras again.

The red-head's face turns blue as she salutes her mistress and whimpers while flapping her head-wings and nodding, then nervously says "n-n-no please, not again! I'll do as you say."

Lina giggles and says "she looks so cute when she's terrified like that."

The bookworm's response is a scoff, then makes her way toward the entrance to the library.

Leon, of course, goes after her, which makes the witch smile vilely.

After a minute of walking the librarian disappears from Leon's sight in an instant, leaving him to stare at the dual doors and the air.

"My love?" asks the boy before his beloved librarian appears behind him, grabs him by the shoulders and pins him against the nearest bookshelf.

She smiles and giggles, making him blush and gulp, then casually says "hey there Leon, fancy running into you here, of all places."

They boy smiles bashfully and blushes when he realizes his face is mere inches away from his love's.

"Uh, um, Patchouli my love, what is it? I-is it another kiss? Did I do something good?" asks the love-struck boy.

The purple-haired girl slowly shakes her head, then presents the boy with a rolled up paper and says "not yet, but you will earn one if you deliver this letter for me."

The Kori boy straightens up and salutes the librarian, then eagerly says "just point the way and I'll deliver anything for you! Um, where am I delivering this?"

She hands over the letter and sweetly says "you are taking this to the Hakurei Shrine maiden. It's a 'Thank-you' letter for taking care of you three last night."

Promptly after receiving the letter, Leon salutes the librarian again and says "just leave it to me. I'll go get Lina and we'll-"

"No~," playfully whispers Patchouli, then walks him to the door while saying "your sister has to stay here with Remilia and Flandre. Remember, it's their _sisters_ night. So YOUR sister has to participate as well."

The boy analyzes the librarian's words for a brief moment, then smiles and nods rapidly before saying "that makes a lot of sense. I'm very glad to have chosen you to be my love. You are so smart and bright and intelligent and pretty."

The bookworm can't help but blush after so many compliments at once, but quickly composes herself and whispers "r-right, right. Look, just go already or you'll be late. Now go on!"

The boy smiles, bows respectfully, then speedily walks though that open doorway, unaware of the red horns and the devilish smile on the librarian.

"YES!" exclaims Patchouli after slamming the door behind the boy, then excitedly whispers to herself "he's gone, he's gone! Now I can read in peace!"

She flies back to her desk, reaching it in record-breaking time, and sits on her chair to enjoy some quiet reading.

From behind her Lina suspiciously asks "hey, um, Miss Patchouli? Where is Leon?"

She gulps when the girl pops the question so soon and so suspiciously, but Knowledge is a quick thinker and promptly replies "oh, he said he wanted to explore the whole mansion, so I'm guessing he's somewhere in the kitchen by now. Or maybe Flandre's room. Who knows."

Lina raises her eyebrow and hums suspiciously, but she quickly shrugs and says "oh well, I hope he's not gone for too long. It's very dangerous for him to be on his own."

Uninterested, the librarian returns her eyes on her book and says "yeah, whatever. He'll be fine."

* * *

Outside the mansion, Leon walks past the outer gates and stares at the sleeping scarlet-haired gate guard beauty, then shrugs and says to himself "I'll have to talk to Miss Sakuya about Miss Meiling's accommodations. She definitely needs a bed if she's going to sleep out here."

He goes on is merry way thought the night, and seeing as the moon is almost full the visibility for him is perfect.

His journey comes to an abrupt stop when he reaches the edge of the island.

He contemplates the lake while considering whether to swim across or not "_but that would ruin the paper and make this letter useless,_" thinks the boy while looking around for anything that might help him cross over the water.

He turns around to ask Meiling for help, and that's when he notices Daiyousei and two other fairies staring at him from behind.

He blinks twice after staring back for some time and asks "hi. Say~, do you know how I can cross this lake without getting all wet?"

The great fairy and her partners giggle and flock all around the Kori boy, giggling with glee while rubbing their cheeks all over his face and his hair with blissful smiles.

Without saying a word, the two smaller fairies grab the boy by each arm while the greater fairy grabs him by the waist, then they fly him over the water to the other side.

After placing him back on land the three fairies fly away, giggling while circling each other and waving back at the boy, who casually waves back with an understandable confused look on his face.

He turns around and aims to resume his journey, but sobbing noises from nearby catch his attention, then he asks himself "oh dear, I wonder who's crying?"

The young boy turns right and walks through some bushes, and finds Byakuren sitting on a large root in a dark clearing, crying her eyes out while covering her face with her hands.

Unaware of his presence she looks up at the night sky with those bloodshot and swollen eyes and asks "great Buddha, why have you abandoned me now, now that I need your guidance so desperately?"

She turns her head around when she feels a tug on her dress, then yelps and spring on to her feet, hurriedly cleans her face with the back of her sleeves and smiles as she usually would toward the ice boy looking up at her.

He silently stares at her until the tears start flowing out her eyes again and says "you must be Byakuren. Mister Ail and Miss Rika were talking about you this morning. They are very worried about you."

"Why?" asks the woman as a frown takes her face again before straightening up and asking "why should they worry about me, a woman that upsets the gods with erratic and fruitless hope?"

Leon continues staring at the woman as she sits down again and cries "I was blinded by my hopes of a better world. An ideal that bares no fruit! Why was I so blind?"

The boy places his hand on the woman's right arm and she immediately feels as though her sorrow has just been flushed out of her system.

Once calm, the Kori boy softly says "and I thought you were wiser than this, miss Hijiri. Ail, Rika, and all those that care about you, they think quite highly of you. They respect your ideals, and from what I heard, there's a whole temple with those that share that ideal with you."

Byakuren looks down at the boy and sniffles before asking "wh-what? How do you know? You've never-"

"I can see it in your eyes," he says with a smile, then gently rubs her hand with his own and says "your present is there, yet you fail to see it. Someone clouded your sight. Now I can't clear that for you, but I can help you walk toward the truth."

The monk feels as her consciousness drifts away as though in meditation, and can hear Leon's voice echo in her mind, saying "there are many that believe in you. What you did, running away like that, has toppled their belief in you, your ideals. Know that nobody can force you to return to them, but I **can** suggest you do, for their sake. Even now, I am certain they want you back."

She can now see a ghostly image of Shou and Nazrin looking at her from a distance and beckoning her to go to them, then they disappear and are replaced by the ghostly images of Ichirin, Unzan and Minamitsu, who smile in a welcoming manner, and though they speak, no sound comes from them.

They disappear and are replaced by the ghostly images of Kyouko and Kogasa, both which open their arms and gleefully hug the monk's waist, while what look like at least a hundred other youkai and humans cheer for her return.

They all disappear once again and from behind a weak voice calls "**Byakuren,**" and the woman quickly turns around.

She gasps with horror at the sight of Nue, holding herself up with the help of a crutch under her arm, her face, arms and abdomen covered in bloodied bandages, missing her left eye and a couple of her wings, and yet she smiles at the sight of the monk and softly says "**welcome back.**"

Hijiri gasps out of her trance and finds herself alone in the same clearing she met Leon, however the boy is no longer there.

* * *

Nue wakes up with a loud gasp, startling Shou and Ichirin, whom are currently changing the bandages around her left arm and stomach.

"It's alright. It's just us," calmly says the disciple of Bishamonten while returning to tending the wounded girl.

The youkai nun is already cleaning the cut on the nue's abdomen, which used to be a horrible gash in the morning, and gleefully says "you're starting to recover, so why not just lie down and let us-"

"I saw Byakuren. Just now, in a dream," says the wounded undefined girl while looking at the girls.

Shou manages to calm her own emotions enough to calmly ask "w-where did you see her? I-is she alright?"

Nue closes her eye and shakes her head, then says "she was crying. She... wasn't hurt though, just sad. All I could see around us was a cluster of bushes and some trees, nothing more, so I don' know where she could be."

Ichirin sighs and whispers "poor anee-san. She really needs us," then gasps and covers her mouth when she realizes what she just said in front of the tiger youkai.

The god representative seems about to burst into one of her fits, but instead take a deep breath, lowers her head, then says "let's continue with you here Nue."

Both nun and undefined stare surprised at the tiger, who chuckles and says "I think she'll return to us soon. Nue's dream is clear indication of such. But now is not the time. Now we have to tend to this mess of a girl and make sure she heals properly."

She smiles brightly at the still-shocked girls and adds "right~?"

Nazrin watches from outside the room, blushing and smiling contently.

She pulls herself away from the door and hides behind the wall, then a pink hear flies out of her head as she says to herself "master can be so cool when she acts maturely! Ahh, I hope she remains acting like this for-"

She stops talking when she notices Kogasa staring unblinkingly at her, and though embarrassed to the death, she whips her tail with great skill and knocks the karakasa youkai out cold, then glances around suspiciously before taking the youkai by her arms and dragging her away.

Over at Alice's dark house, Drake knocks on the door and calls "Alice Margatroid, can you hear me? Is someone in there?"

He looks inside the windows and can see many small hands and eyes, though lifeless, and says to himself "she must be out. Fine, I'll have to wait of her here."

The boy looks around the area until he finds a suitable place to sit in meditation and wait for the owner of the house to return, though the moment he closes his eyes his face fill with torment and his spasmic grunts echo around the neighboring area.

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Ail cries twin streams while trapped between the exaggeratedly cushioned teeth of a giant clamp-trap which holds his arms while clasping his abdomen, while Reimu coos contently and rubs her cheeks against his own and happily says "ahh, he's so _soft_! This is even better than my dreams!"

The boy sobs, then cries "Rika, why did you do this? After I told you I needed to do important things today."

The shrine maid smiles to hide the shame she feels and says "I'm sorry Mister Ail. My lady's orders."

The boy sighs, then cries "and what about Sanae?"

The mentioned shrine maiden is trapped by an equally large toothed clamp-trap that snapped itself on her chest, just below her collarbone, and though cushioned, said cushions are only half the size of Ail's, which would explain why the blue and white maiden is drooling while in a daze.

Rika flaps her wings rapidly and smiles once again to hide her shame, then says "Mistress Reimu's orders."

The red and white maiden smiles as she rubs the boy's chest and face with her hands and says "just forget about her. You are all mine, my hero."

The dense one snaps and furiously barks "Reimu, let me GO! I'm already late to Mugenkan, and who knows where Mima has Budou by now!"

The maiden just giggles and completely ignores the boy's pleas as she wraps her hands all over his upper body.

At the kitchen, Alice, Shanghai, Hourai, and Marisa watch with disgust as the Hakurei maiden continues molesting the boy, then the black and white says "I haven't been this disgusted since the time I saw you wearing my clothes, ze."

The puppeteer blushes with embarrassment and angrily shouts "you're the pervert that put those on me while in my sleep!"

The witch smiles mischievously as she remembers the event, and says "ah, good times. Good times."

Shanghai mercilessly strikes the witch's head with a bottle of sake and knocks her out, Hourai brings in a bowl filled with all sorts of snacks, then Alice scratches her daughters' chins and head and says "good girls. Now let's watch some more. It's getting good.

Outside the shrine, Suzaku perches on a tree branch, keeping as far away from the old lady Michiko as she can, yet keeps a watchful eye on the frightening and unwelcome guest.

The old woman chuckles and says "it's become so lively over here. That boy is a pretty good source of entertainment you know."

The vermillion bird bucks angrily and telepathically says "_he's done nothing that should be considered **enterntaining**. Now please go look for entertainment elsewhere."_

The old lady's face completely changes, and with a stern look on her face she points away from the shrine and sweetly asks "can this old lady ask for a favor, miss Vermillion Bird?"

Suzaku stares cautiously at the woman as she walks toward the shrine stairs and says "please fly south-west from here, when the crown of the sun peeks its light over the mountains, if your guest hasn't arrived by then."

The red bird looks over to the direction the old woman spoke about and asks "_why? Is this some sort of prank to freak me-_" but she soon discovers her message isn't reaching anyone, seeing as the old woman is already halfway down the stair, tapping her cane on the steps to let the bird know she's down there.

Elsewhere, Leon pants hard and fast as he runs across a wide open field, while a sinister woman's voice that surrounds him laughs and says "yes, that's it. Run little morsel, RUN! It's good sport!"

The boy tries running faster, but his feet can only go so fast and he's getting tired quickly.

The youkai, a girl with short silver-hair that looks like a mixture of a fox and a leopard, wearing rags to cover herself, runs on all fours after the boy, and by the looks of it she is famished.

"Yes, that's it! You're getting tired now. Just a little more and you're mine," exclaims the hungry youkai as she gets closer to her pray.

Leon whimpers after looking back and seeing the red eyes of the girl so close, then turns around and runs toward a small collection of trees, thinking he could use them to hide himself, or perhaps defend himself somehow.

It's too late, the youkai is right on top of him.

She raises her right hand and reveals a set of large claws, then swings with all her might, leaving a red trail behind her swing.

* * *

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Kyo, Phredia, Leon, Lina and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

JUL 07 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Ho-hoo, even while writing a dark fiction I still got it where comedy and light is concerned. Ah, how I love it.**

**Yup, a very late update, but now that I actually got TWO good fics that require constant updating, then I guess I can use that as an excuse. Er, did I say excuse? Eh, whatever. Video Games make things better. LOVE the PS3.**

**Oh, and to those interested, I started a poll on my FF homepage asking a question about the crossover with Touhou and KH (Kingdom Hearts), and where should I go with it. Please help by voting. It might even help inspire myself even more and work on that fiction also. Anyway, thanks for reading this far and I hope you enjoyed this chapter..**


	10. Chapter 10

It is now dawn, the crown of the sun is starting to peek its waking light over the mountains, and the expected guest hasn't arrived to the Hakurei Shrine.

Suzaku perches on the shrine's roof just above the donation box with Suika lounging to her right and taking gulps from her gourd, yet keeps looking sternly toward the large red gate.

She corks her gourd and looks to the bird, the red vermillion bird nods then takes flight to the south-west, keeping her flight-path aligned with the shrine's stairs.

"_Well, I certainly hope I'm not doing this to entertain that old hag, or I'm asking mom to seal-wait!_"

The bird's line of thought is halted when her gaze is met with a peculiar sight.

A young light-blue haired boy is making his way up the shrine's stairs, and doing so with great effort while trailing some blood behind him.

Suzaku squawks and quickly dives, then telepathically calls "_little boy! Hey, little boy, what do you think you are doing-? By the powers, it's Leon!_"

Realizing who the 'guest' is and how damaged his body is, the Bird of Vermillion reveals her claws in mid-dive and grabs the boy's shirt over the shoulders, the only place on his body without wounds.

He struggles to free himself from Suzaku's claws, but when he look up and see her he relaxes, even though being carried like that is hurting him a lot at the moment.

He sighs then winces, but quickly composes himself and weakly says "Miss Suzaku. Th-thank you," then winces again and groans "hurts."

The red bird hurries up the stairs, reaches the top in record time, and helps the boy land as gently as possible on the left side of the porch on the shrine building.

The moment the boy sits and leans against a wooden beam to his right the vermillion bird worriedly asks "_young man, what happened to you? What were you doing out there on your own at these hours?_"

Suika jumps down from the roof and observes the wounds on the boy's body as he lets his head rest against the wooden beam and pants as though having run a marathon.

The left leg has a simple scratch, his right arm and leg seem to have been gripped by something with sharp claws, his face is full of scratches, but the one wound she flinches at is the one gash going across his chest and stomach.

Regardless of the pain he feels, the boy smiles as he struggles to rummage through the pocket on his left, groans as he pulls Patchouli's rolled letter, then takes in as much air as his battered body will allow and says "letter, for Miss Rei-urg, Reimu. From Patchouli my love."

Though drunk, the little oni's voice comes sternly as she says "oi, better go get Reimu."

"No, please. L-let-let her sleep," pleas the weak boy, resting his arm with the letter on his lap, and after breathing in enough air he finishes "I can wait right here. It's no-no problem."

"_No little one, it's no bother! Mom won't mind if it's an emergency,_" says the red bird as she rushes toward the door before the boy can debate some more.

After the bird somehow opens the sliding door and enters, the drunken oni offers a tiny sake cup fillet to the brim to the weak boy.

He raises his head to meet the friendly oni's eyes and reveals a small cut on his neck, yet he smiles as he accepts the cup with his right hand, balancing his shoulder and head to keep from dropping on the wooden floor.

The boy exhales as the alcohol warms his entire body, then Suika softly says "you're pretty strong for a human. Drinking sake so eagerly with all those wounds on 'ya."

The boy smiles after returning the cup and leaning against the beam again, then says "but I'm not a-" then Reimu walks out the doors with Rika behind her and Suzaku on the maid's shoulder, and all attention falls on them.

The maiden sighs after looking at the young boy and looks sadly at her maid and the bird, then slowly shakes her head.

The shrine maid moans softly and lowers her wings, then Reimu returns her attention to Leon and asks "so what happened? Why did you risk yourself to come here, and at night of all the worst possible times?"

The boy smiles again, raises his shaking arm and offers the rolled letter to the maiden, then weakly says "important letter ...from Miss Patchouli."

As she accepts the letter the maiden can't help but look at the boy with pity, and before she can say a word he says "please, don't be mad at Maeria. She was just hungry. Poor thing was so. very.. hun-gry..."

"My lady, what's happening?", cries the shrine maid when Leon's body begins to glow and his eyes start to close.

Reimu calmly shushes her maid and prevents the oni from getting closer, tells them to watch, and they all do just that as they boy's body slowly turns to dust from head to toe along with all his clothes, and now all that remains of Leon of Kori is a sparkly mist cloud next to the wooden beam and ice dust neatly piled on the floor.

The maiden expels her breath after witnessing such a event and begins a prayer, Rika begins to sob loudly while holding Suzaku's head against her cheek, and Suika turns her head away to hide her depression.

After she's done praying, Reimu opens the letter, reads it quickly, then presents it to her maid with an annoyed stare and says "well, it's better he didn't find out what was on this."

The oni tries peeking at the letter, then the maiden lets it fall on the floor next to the pile of ice dust, so she, the shrine maid and the vermillion bird can read "_Please keep him away from me for as long as you can._"

Anger takes the oni, going from the pit of her stomach to the crown of her head, and as she flings her fists around she shouts "that book-loving bitch! Sending him to his death just for **this**? I got a good mind to-"

She stops her ranting when Reimu lifts her hand to her, and with a calm smile on her face she says "don't worry girls. I'll take care of this matter myself. Heheh, don't you worry about it."

All three present sentient beings feel relieved to hear Reimu say she's taking care of this matter, but can't shake the feeling of dread coming from the maiden's deathly smile and ominous glare.

* * *

Later that morning, after the sun is halfway over the mountains and breakfast has been consumed, Reimu walks outside and takes a deep breath while stretching her arms over her head.

Rika, Suzaku and Suika follow the maiden outside, and after the oni is out of the shrine, the angelic-winged maid turns around, stares at the empty toothed clamp-traps with cushions on the teeth, then sighs and closes the sliding door, making sure to lock it before turning around.

As she turns her eyes gaze upon the mist and ice dust left by Leon on the porch and twitches, but manages to suppress a sob to look calmly at her mistress.

Reimu sighs, face palms and says "stop doing that! Don't hide those emotions or it's going to bite you on the butt... and your friends' too."

A tear escapes the maid, a sob comes out as soon as she opens her mouth, then the oni-girl pats her back and says "there, there. Have some sake."

"Sorry *sniffle*, but I'm weak to alcohol, and I am on duty, so," respectfully declines the maid with a pained smile.

"Suit yourself," casually replies the oni before taking the offered cup and drinking its contents, while at the same time the maiden grins and asks "and where do you think you are going?"

Rika bows and flaps her wings, mixing the cute feather-fluttering with Suzaku's shadow while she flies in the sky, then raises up again to meet her mistress' eyes and says "I'm coming with you to Miss Remilia's mansion. What Miss Patchouli did is inexcusable, and I wish to give her a piece of my mind."

The shrine maiden grins and slightly raises her hand, but stops when the maid straightens up and holds her own cheek while saying "of course, I also want to go there to make sure little-sis Koa wasn't involved. If she was, I'm going to have to discipline her again."

"A-ha-ha-ha... I see," nervously chuckles the maiden, noticing a strange glow coming from her maid's right hand.

Mentally discarding that image the shrine maiden continues her approach to Rika, places her hand on her maid's shoulder, then smiles naturally while saying "oh, but you have something else to do today. A search, if I'm not mistaken."

The maid's eyes suddenly sparkle, her face brightens up, her small wings spread and seem to vibrate with excitement, and whimpering happily she asks "you mean...?"

"That's right," says the maiden in a bubbly tone while still gripping her maid's shoulder "I won't hold you back for today. Go search for Byakuren and make sure she gets back home. I can tell you are genuinely worried about her anyway."

The angelic girls light-blue eyes sparkle with stars that could enhance the night sky, she cups her hands under her chin, her smile widens, and her wings start flapping harder and faster.

She looks to the sky at the vermillion bird as it circles above her and says "ALRIGHT! Thank you so much my lady! You are the BEST!"

In her excitement, she takes off to the air and joins Suzaku, looks down at her mistress, then waves her hands while calling "thank you again Miss Reimu! Please feel free to summon me if you need me! I'll be going now so, bye~!"

After the cute and busty maid eagerly flies away, the drunken oni walks to the shrine maiden's side and says "boy, that girl is just too cute. So Reimu, are you alright- oh, I see."

She promptly prepares another cup of sake and hands it over to the red and white.

Underneath Reimu's nostrils flows a slow stream of blood that drips down her chin while she looks up to the sky with an elated and sparkly smile on her face.

She subconsciously accepts the sake cup from the oni, drinks it down at once, the blood disappears from her face, her expression returns to calm, and feeling refreshed she returns the cup and says "alright, now that my HP is restored, I'm off!"

"Oh, that's right," mouths the girl just before taking flight, then turns to Suika and says "don't forget about that favor, ok."

The oni salutes the maiden with that childish smile covering her face to acknowledge Reimu, and promptly after, both girls take off to the air to different directions.

Immediately after rising above the trees the shrine maiden squeals with glee when her eyes fall upon the sight of Ail, Cirno and Sanae flying toward her same destination over the distance.

"Ugh, that girl is with him, again! What is she, his girlfriend or something?"

After saying this to herself she shrugs and says "well, whatever. I'll just go over and say hi to Ail. Say Rika, how abou-oh right... I'm alone here."

Sighing in defeat, the red and white maiden stays her course and scratches her plan of getting closer to her man-prey, thinking it would be more prudent to attack stealthily instead of going for a head-on attack while on her own.

* * *

Meanwhile, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai arrive to their home at the Forest of Magic and immediately feel a little overwhelmed by a mysterious energy.

"Oh dear," whispers Alice. "What's happening. Shanghai, Hourai, can you guys feel that?"

The red-dressed tiny-girl drops on her mother's right shoulder, and while hanging there like a rag she says "maybe we left that book open again."

The puppeteer chuckles after recovering from the energy wallop and says "no, no, that thing only works if we sing the incantation," then whispers to herself "not that we're going to try that again..."

The blue-dressed tiny-girl, seemingly unaffected by the energy points toward the house and shouts "mama Alice, a stranger is sitting in front of the door!"

Hourai lifts her head to stare along with the puppeteer magician and her tiny sister at the boy sitting in a meditative pose in front of said house's door.

The youkai murderer's face seems to be filled with pain and confusion.

Beads of sweat roll down his forehead as he trembles and winces, then stops everything, places his hands on his knees and breathes deeply through his mouth, then opens his tired and hateful eyes.

"Excuse me, are you lost?" curiously asks the magician, who is already leaning close to the boy while her two tiny daughters fly by her sides.

The boy looks up at the blue-eyed girl and mumbles "more youkai."

She straightens up and turns her head away as she says "hmph, such attitude! Got a problem with youkai?"

The boy sighs while thinking "_come on Drake, you've already messed up several times. Don't screw up now,_" then uncrosses his legs and says "I'm sorry, I meant no offense. Miss, would you happen know a Miss Alice Margatroid?"

The puppeteer magician grips her grimoire around her left arm and tenses her right hand before asking "for what purpose are you looking for her?"

Her two daughters stop fluttering around and hover stiffly over their mother's shoulders, readying themselves for attack.

Noticing the girls' tension the boy stops his attempts of getting up and remains on his knees.

He looks up at Alice, relaxes his hateful stare into a more friendly look, then says "my name is Drake Starstriker. I come to request for Miss Margatroid's assistance in repairing a most priced garment."

The girls relax immediately and their expression change completely, and with welcoming smiles the puppeteer says "then you have come to the right place. Come on in , you can show me this garment inside, Mister Starstriker."

Sighing with relief in his mind, Drake stands up and bows his head just slightly, then follows the girls into the house.

The house's interior is beautifully adorned, fit for a lady of Alice's elegance and reputation.

The living room has a large three-person couch and a pair of matching single couches facing each other from across a glass table that rests in the center.

On the backrest of each seat are matching hand-made cloths with red rose buds motifs, on the table sits an empty, but elegant pot, and there is a large bookshelf with some spaces between books resting against the outer wall.

The windows are all adorned with delicate cream-colored curtains, or at least it seems that way from where the boy is standing, and the kitchen and dining room are medium-sized, quite comfortable for a single person.

He can see a round table with matching chairs in the center of the dining room, but before he can observe more Alice calls for him and signals him to sit on the large three-person couch in front of the farthest edge of the center table.

As soon as he sits he is served tea and cookies on trays by several dolls, then notices many more dolls, most of them similar to Shanghai in appearance, cleaning the many books and adornments in the house.

"Well, this is a rare sight. Dolls doing housework without causing havoc," says the boy with a tone of admiration.

Proud of her skill, the puppeteer magician chuckles and says "thank you. It's not as easy as it looks, but I can manage my girls quite well. Now..."

She takes the single seat to the left of the room where a cup of tea awaits her on a tray that's balanced on the seat's armrest, and after taking her cup and placing it on her lips, the stares at the boy with wonderment.

The two tiny girls each take a seat on the armrests beside the magician and join their mother in staring at the boy while each enjoy a square cookie from their mother's tea tray.

Understanding their sights, Drake rummages through his right pocket until he finds and pulls out his ruined bandana, then places it on the table next to the tea and snacks he is yet to accept.

Alice raises an eyebrow and says "I see. This is a rather complex garment. Whomever made it must have been exceptionally skilled."

The boy nods and calmly says "so you understand why I seek your aid. This can't be sewed back that easily. I needs-"

"To be sewed with precision while embedding a fixed amount of magic into each thread so it doesn't disintegrate or explode while being repaired. It also requires a similar fabric to the original, which I just happen to have," interrupts the witch, genuinely surprising the godling.

She places her half-filled teacup on the tray and picks the bandanna, then looks at the boy and says "you understand a job like this requires a lot of materials, time, concentration, and all leads to the fact that-"

"I never expected this job to be done for free my lady. Please name your price and I'll do what I have to do in order to pay for your services," interrupts the boy while staring at Shanghai, who keeps giving him cautious glances.

The puppeteer magician smiles, her eyes brighten up, and while keeping them locked on her guest she calmly says "alright then. Bring me the materials I will list on this piece of paper and you debt will be paid."

As she says this a pair of dolls bring her a piece of paper and a pen and she scribbles furiously on said paper, then hands it to Hourai who flies toward the boy and hands the list.

"I'll need plenty of each of those. I will be using many for the repairs of this magical garment. Oh, and the blue-spotted mushroom are very rare, so if you could get me at least five, that will be greatly appreciated."

After Alice finishes speaking, Hourai stands next to the boy and says "oh, and when hunting mushrooms you need to be careful! There is this rude witch that hunts them too. She makes mama angry all the time!"

A skillfully maneuvered thin string wraps itself around the little girl's arm and the magician pulls her little daughter back.

While Shanghai scolds her sister, the blond magician face palms and groans "she's right though. Marisa can be a pain. Just be sure NOT to tell her those are for me and she should _probably_ leave you alone."

"And if not?" asks the boy.

The puppeteer grins, then casually says "then you will have failed, and will have to try again. She's no pushover, that Marisa, so be careful."

Somehow, Kasen's voice echoes inside Drake's mind as she sternly says "_please don't go killing her!_"

He sighs, stands up, then walks toward the door while saying "I'll be careful my lady."

* * *

Meanwhile, Ail, Cirno and Sanae fly over the mountains east of the Misty Lake, when the dense one asks "hey Cirno, if you wanted to stay with Rika so badly, why did you come with us?"

The little ice fairy stops to think, then the boy and his maiden girlfriend also stop and stare.

They both twitch when the fairy's face starts turning pink and drool starts dribbling down her left cheek, and then she looks at the couple.

"That deliciously beautiful angel with such soft cushions inside her shirt. Oh how I love that! So soft and squishy, and she's so warm when she hugs me and squeezes me with those angelic pillows."

The fairy swoons while thinking more and more about Rika and her assets, places her hands on her cheeks while giggling, then says "ah, if I could just stay with her forever I'd be so happy! She treats me so kindly and doesn't call me an idiot when I mess up. And... those yummy squishy pillows. Ooh, and those soft angel wings!"

She giggles yet again and screams "kyaaaah~! I want to marry miss Rika!"

Somewhere over the land of Gensokyo, Rika's sword suddenly glows bright pink, startling her and her bird familiar.

"_Master, what just happened?_" asks the Bird of Vermillion, to which Rika holds her sword and just shrugs as a response.

Back over the mountains, the little fairy opens her eyes and stares at the frightened and surprised looks on Ail, Sanae and now Phredia who sits on Sanae's shoulders, then sighs and says "but I made a promise to you. You are also nice to me Ail, and you took care of me before, so I will help you if I can."

Recovering his usual calm face, the boy smiles and dares to fly closer to the perverted little ice fairy, pats her head, and says "you are a very good girl Cirno."

He twitches, grabs the fairy, then hurries over to the blue and white maiden, grabs her hand, then dives with them toward the large mansion resting hidden under the mountain's small lake.

Before they can ask, the boy points to the sky hurriedly says "it's Reimu," and now the party of three and a half stand in front of the gates of Yuka's old mansion, though look around for the mentioned maiden, which they cannot see.

"Tch, why hide? I could have just easily kicked her butt," growls Sanae while dusting her skirt.

The dense boy chuckles nervously as beads of sweat roll down his forehead, and turning his body toward the door while keeping his nervous face aimed as his girlfriend he nervously replies "yeah, I rather we avoid any unnecessary conflicts today."

"I have to go and search for Budou after this," sternly continues the dense boy while turning a cold face toward the door and knocking hard.

After half a minute passes the ice fairy sighs and says "how rude. They should have answered a year ago!"

Ail, Sanae and Phredia raise an eyebrow while looking at the confidently annoyed ice fairy, but none can find words to correct the unnatural words that have just been spewed.

Fortune smiles when from within someone finally answers "alright, alright, I can hear you out there. Hold on," and now several clacks and jingling metals can be heard right behind that door.

"Alright, this key unlocks this, and this one... um isn't this for the cuffs and-, never mind."

The voice of Yuka Kazami, the beautifully hazardous flower master from the Garden of the Sun, can be heard as it slowly goes from slightly irritated, to severely annoyed.

She can be heard mumbling furiously about keys and locks and what they do, and along with a furious rattle her now raging voice worries the two somewhat-humans outside.

The rattling gets more and more loud, then "ARGH! Screw this, I never liked the locks anyway."

"GET DOWN!" screams the boy, grabbing Cirno and jumping toward Sanae.

"Original Master Spark!"

The front door to the mansion flies to the sky the second the party hits the ground for cover, then the flower youkai walks out with a content smile on her face and saying "welcome, **welcome**. I was expecting you to come sooner Ail. I'm so disappointed in you."

The woman has short wavy green hair adorned with a sunflower on the right side, deceivingly friendly-looking red eyes, and wears a thin pink unbuttoned shirt, matching pink brassiere, a long plaid red skirt, and a pair of red shoes.

"Welcome to Mugenkan my dear guests," sings the master of the mansion with a deceivingly sweet voice, raising her hands in a welcoming manner, then quickly notices her guests are cowering on the ground and with a curious face she asks "what **are** you doing down there?"

The dense boy grunts as he gets up with a mind to scold the flower youkai, but after seeing her open shirt and that silky-looking bra his face turns tomato red and turns around to look at the ground.

"What's the matter now?" impatiently asks the flower master, crossing her arms under her ample womanhood and rapidly tapping her foot on the floor.

The blue and white maiden holds the boy's shoulder and coos words of comfort, then turns her head around to Yuka with a furious scowl and exclaims "hey, stop being indecent and cover yourself up!"

"Well," seductively whispers the woman, and taking slow steps toward her guests she purrs "I'm so sorry for wearing my clothes the way I want to wear them while in my own house."

She then turns her attention to Cirno and gleefully asks "oh, the little ice fairy. Have you been freezing flowers again?"

The fairy is understandably frightened and hides behind the frowning maiden.

Looking at this scene, flower master Kazami flaps her hand in the air while sighing, then says "just think it's a bikini or something like that."

Ail's body twitches, he stops breathing, then turns around and moves his mouth, though no words come out, then Sanae strikes the back of his head with her gohei knocking him to the ground, and exclaims "**Ail-kun is perverted only for me, or ELSE!**"

The flower youkai giggles mischievously, then casually comments "oh my, seems he has a thing for big breasted green haired women."

"I HAVE LONGER HAIR!" shouts the maiden, making the green haired youkai smile and say "well, someone's on edge," but that smile is swiftly erased when coos and giggles echo from inside the building.

The flower master face palms and sighs, almost sounding like a low growl, then the ice fairy asks "um, what's wrong?"

Yuka opens her eyes to reveal a vicious red glow on them, then softly roars "them again!"

One last bubbly giggle escapes through the blasted door of the mansion, then Elly, the eternal loving gatekeeper, peeks her head outside and smiles as she says "Lady Yuka, we'll be in the pool again, but you can call me if you need-oh my! Guests! I'm so sorry!"

The girl jumps outside, her blonde curved-up hair bounces, then she aims her sparkly yellow eyes toward the maiden and the fairy, bows, and says "welcome to Mugenkan!"

She wears a long red dress with a pink capelet, brown boots, a pink sun-hat with a red ribbon around it, and now she looks around herself and her shapely body as though searching for something.

"Here you go sweetie," says a somewhat raspy voice from within, and now a buff hand gives Elly her long scythe.

She turns toward the hand and giggles while accepting her weapon and says "thank you darling," then grabs that hand and pulls an old but buff kappa with a brown shell.

Even Ail stands up to enjoy the sight of the frustrated Yuka while her servant happily presents her kappa boyfriend to the guests.

"Everyone," calls the blonde girl "this is my boyfriend. Please say hi to him."

The old kappa has a thick white beard, short and smooth white hair, a bald spot on the crown of his head, narrow eyes, wears a golden necklace with a sun medallion, and a long white robe that covers his muscular body.

The kappa raises his hands and casually says "hey," and for some odd reason the seems to annoy the flower youkai even more, to the point that her cheeks puff up as she attempts to suppress her frustration.

Ail, having recovered from the sexy surprise, wants to say some distracting words to the flower master, but jumps back when she snarls.

She quickly gasps with a smile, reaches in her pocket, pulls out a hand-sized square box, then pulls out the bearded man with glasses known as Lester Wilson and forces him to stand all lovey-dovey beside her.

"Eh, what's goin-? Whoa, Yuka!"

The man takes a bit to understand the position he is in, and with a wide smile on his face he immediately wraps an arm around his dream woman's waist.

Although she twitches, although she wants to rip this man's arm off, her desire to make Elly jealous is stronger, so she ignores him and loudly says "oh, that's right, I found myself a boyfriend! Look Elly, look how he holds me so lovingly!"

The gatekeeper is currently rubbing noses with her kappa boyfriend, but she manages to register Yuka's words and looks to her master and the lucky bastard.

She stares for a moment, the left side of her lip stretches into a smile, then casually says "oh, so you did. Congratulations Miss Yukarin!"

She gasps when she remembers the gawking guests and bows while saying "oh, I'm so sorry! Please dear guests, come this way," then turns to her kappa man and says "darling, could you wait of me at the pool? I have some work to do."

The old kappa bows elegantly, grabs his girl's hand, gives it a soft kiss, then romantically says "I'll wait for you my sweet princess," making Elly swoon and flap her face with her other arm.

"Yuka-san," purrs the lucky bearded man, unaware that the flower youkai's plan has failed and her rage has escalated to dangerous levels, then unwisely pinches her left bun.

Cirno notices the move by the man, her cheeks turn pink, and with a bit of drool dribbling down the corner of her mouth she whispers "yeah, I'll do that with Rika."

The pile of bloody body parts that once was Lester Wilson lies on top of a hospital mattress while Eirin and Reisen give him some pitiable stares, then Kurumi wipes the blood she drank from the man on the way there and says "yup. He acted the 'boyfriend' part only too well."

She then rubs her chin and glances upward while in deep thought and says "come to think of it, the ice fairy was pretty traumatized by the whole thing," then shrugs and finishes "and _I_ thought it was funny."

* * *

Meanwhile, Reimu arrives to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and casually greets Meiling as she walks through the gate.

"Ah, Miss Reimu. The mistress is sleeping, so please try to make your visit brief," warns the friendly gatekeeper.

The shrine maiden smiles, giggles and bows her head, then says "don't worry, I just need to give a message to a certain misbehaved librarian."

The green-vested girl stares estranged at the shrine maiden but decides to shrug it off and continue her peaceful, boring and silent gate keeping.

Inside the library Patchouli growls while trying to read a large book she holds in front of her face, yet she seems very unsettled and is obviously unable to read.

"Leooooon~! LEEEEOOOOOONNN~!" desperately calls Lina from the third floor, and when she quiets down the library settles down and peace seems to return, then tables and chairs can be heard tumbling all over while the girl calls for her brother again.

Koakuma walks over to her mistress' side, places an elegant cup of tea on the side of the table, then looks toward the source of the cracks and thumps, sighs and says "she already searched the whole mansion and still can't find him."

The purple librarian twitches, then mumbles incoherently while sinking half of her face into her book.

The doors to the library bang open and Reimu calls "Patchouli~! Where are you? We have to talk~!"

The purple-haired librarian takes a deep breath and sighs long while thinking "_and he's back. Well, there goes my peace._"

"Ah, Miss Reimu! We're over here," calls the little devil, then yelps when the light-blue-haired girl hugs her from behind and wines "I can't fine Leon anywhere! Where is he?"

"So you didn't tell her. Why am I not surprised?" says the red and white maiden the second she appears from behind the maze of bookshelves.

Patchouli, Koakuma and Lina turn their full attention to the shrine maiden, but the magician flinches, chokes, turns back to her book, then sinks her face in the pages as though trying to get herself inside of it.

"Tell us what?" demands the little devil while getting between her mistress and the guest.

The Kori girl looks into the maiden's eyes and demands "you know where Leon is?", then places her hand on her chest to express a sigh of relief and says "oh thank goodness! I was so worried!"

The shrine maiden nods, keeping a stern face while looking at the girls in front of her.

She takes a few steps forward, ignoring Koakuma's threatening glares, then stops when she is right next to Patchouli and coldly says "yes, I know where Leon is. But so does this purple cutie over here."

Shocked eyes turn straight toward the librarian and the little girl agitatedly demands "what does she mean by that Lady Patchouli? You told me he was exploring the mansion!"

Reimu takes the letter from within her left sleeve and says "she sent him on an errant to my shrine, to deliver this letter to me," then she tosses the piece of paper so it opens on the table for all to read and says "a rather important errand, one might think."

Lina approaches the letter immediately after it opens and reads it out loud "Please keep him away from me for as long as you can?", then looks at the red and white maiden and whispers "I... don't understand."

Sighing while rubbing her forehead the maiden says to herself "there's never an easy way to say these thing," then takes a deep breath and softly says "Leon is dead. Murdered by the hands of a wild youkai."

"WHAT?" yelps the ice girl with a dignified tone, and launches herself toward the purple-haired magician, fists raised for retribution, but is caught by the little devil, who asks "Miss Patchouli, what is the meaning of all this?"

The purple bean sprout twitches, but keeps her face buried inside her book and doesn't answer.

Instead, Reimu taps the ice girl on the shoulder to get her attention and says "I'll answer that for you. See, from what I can tell, she though doing what she did would give her the peace and tranquility she needed to read her precious books. She thought that a boy **WITHOUT** the ability to **FLY** or use **MAGIC** could make it to my shrine safely **AT NIGHT** and on his **OWN** and stay there all night seeing as I couldn't deny him shelter."

She casually walks beside the devil librarian and the ice girl and holds their shoulders, possibly to comfort them, then walks over to the magician's side.

"However, being the smart girl she is, Patchouli couldn't get that peace," says the maiden while brushing the back of the purple bean sprout's head, making the girl twitch stiffly.

The maiden grabs the book from the top and says "and now, after having her consciences peck at her all night for making such a terrible miscalculation, she finds out her intuition was right, that she should have gone after him, and now she's sorry."

"Isn't that right Patchouli?" asks the maiden as she lifts the book to reveal the librarian shedding silent tears behind cover.

Though revealed, her state of shock prevents her from moving, and with her tears flowing without stop, chocking her as she tries to halt them, and with great effort she manages to say "but he... was supposed to come. He... is supposed to come back. T-to be here."

She finally manages to move, looks to Reimu with confusion and asks "why isn't he here? Why did this happen?"

The maiden sighs and shakes her head, keeping her face stern all the time, then looks back at the magician librarian and asks "why did you knowingly send him to his death?"

"No! I didn't, I just-"

The purple-haired girl tries to find some way to justify her actions, but quickly finds none and just slumps and cries "I'm sorry! I messed up. I wasn't thinking."

"So much for Knowledge," monotonously says the maiden as she turns to the exit.

"Hey, you don't have to rub it in her face like that," exclaims the little devil.

She rushes to her mistress and coos some comforting words, and from the distance the maiden coldly says "well, I did my duty. I'll be headed ho-"

"Wait, Miss Reimu, let me come with you," calls Lina after rushing behind the red and white.

The maiden hides a victorious grin, and doing her best to sound cold and uncaring she says "why? To look at the pile of ice dust and mist left at my porch? I see no reason why."

"Lady Patchouli is truly sorry, so I supposed I c-"

The red and white maiden has jumped behind the girl and covered her mouth, then whispers "shh, don't say it now. Let's just leave it like this, for now."

Though weakened by grief, the magician stands up and with a cracking voice says "please, let us come too. I sh-should at least pay my respects. It's... the least I can do after what I did."

She sniffles and lets out a held back sob, then the shrine maiden sighs, still hiding her smile, then says "alright then, you can come."

Afterward she gently pushes Lina with her, and when Koakuma is about to ask the maiden says "I'll be going on ahead with this one. You know the way to the shrine, so just catch up to us after you're ready."

"Now come with me little lady. Let's go to my shrine," sweetly says the red and white maiden while guiding the girl to the dual doors, leaving the crying librarian and her concerned assistant to their preparations.

The second those dual doors close behind them the Kori girl turns to Reimu and asks "why didn't you let me tell them?"

The maiden chuckles, gently pushes the girl down the corridor, then says "come on, let's have a little chat."

Hidden in the shadows, Sakuya glares toward the shrine maiden, and though for a moment she appears as if she is going to attack, she closes her eyes and sighs, then disappears from sight, leaving behind three game cards that fall promptly after appearing.

* * *

Back at Mugenkan, in the deepest and darkest parts of the mansion, Ail and Sanae scratch their heads while inspecting a large blue magical circle with a pentagram in the middle, runes inside the bordering circle, and seven well-known paper seals with a certain shrine maiden's handwriting on them.

The boy groans inward while staring at the seals with frustration, then opens another gap that does open a door to the dream realm, but none of the girls from the other side can cross it.

"Ail, you promised! Why are you torturing us like this?" cries Gengetsu while pounding her fists on the seemingly open gap.

"I'm trying, but Reimu's seals are really tough to work around," sighs the boy.

"And for some reason my own seals can't even counter these, even for a moment," growls the aggravated blue and white maiden.

"Um, sis, I need to use the bathroom," cautiously whispers Mugetsu.

Kana places her nose on top of the dream maid's own nose, smiles dearly, then casually says "I'll give you a massage if you do it right here."

From inside and outside the gap, the boy, his girlfriend and angel-winged dream demon simultaneously shout "**use the toilet!**", after noticing that the blonde maid was about to obey the poltergeist.

Meanwhile, several feet behind this amusing scene is a red couch with one depressed, open-shirt Kazami, Cirno on the flower master's lap, and Phredia on said woman's left shoulder.

"...and then I moved here to escape that guy," softly says Yuka while combing the ice fairy's hair with her hand and saying "I left my flower fields unattended and thought I would find peace here, but then there's the pool, a perfect habitat for a kappa," and then she groans.

The two fairies don't seem to mind listening to this woman go on and on about how she wants nothing more than to escape those two disgustingly lovey-dovey love-birds but can't think of anything to succeed in her quest, and then it happens.

"Um, Miss Yuka, why don't you leave them in the pool and go back to your flowers?"

The ice's fairy's obvious suggestion hits the flower youkai's stupid-button so hard she spasms as though she has just been hit on the head with a bat.

She grips the fairy's arms gently but firmly, turn her around, then smiles disturbingly wide and says "you are a little GENIUS!"

She lifts the fairy and thanks her with one kiss on the face after another, ignoring the little ice spirit's pleas for release and the gentle ear-tugs from the elf fairy on her shoulder.

"Alright, I think I got it!"

Ail's exclamation distracts Yuka, to Cirno's luck, then the boy and his girlfriend scream as something explodes.

"DAMMIT REIMU!", shouts the boy.

"Stop shouting, you idiot!", shouts Sanae.

"Hey, don't shout at me!", shouts the boy.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just thought you **were capable enough** to do this!", shouts the enraged girlfriend.

"Oh! Oh-ho-**HO!** Well I don't see **you** coming up with anything helpful, miracle girl!", shouts the boy.

"You're asking for it whiny coward," growls the maiden.

The flower master and the fairies stare dumbstruck at the scene before them, then Yuka giggles and says "maybe we should do something to cool them off, don't you think?"

Cirno gasps with a smile and excitedly says "ooh, ooh! I can do that," then raises a spell card.

At the amusing sight, the dense boy and his maiden girlfriend stand on their hands and knees and press their faces against each other in a challenging manner.

Their faces and hands, and the ground around the still-open-but-useless gap are all full of burn marks while the seals all look like new, and from within the gap Gengetsu stares at the quarreling couple with disgust and sighs "look, just forget it. Thanks for trying though."

The couple seem to ignore the girl as they snarl and growl at each other, pushing each others' forehead with their own as though fighting over dominion, and then they lock lips and start to kiss, disgusting the winged dream demon and making the poltergeist and maid-dressed dream demon shriek excitedly.

The passion only lasts until the little ice fairy shouts "Freeze Sign, Perfect Freeze," and now the two lovers are frozen inside a thick sheet of ice, standing on all fours while passionately locking lips and looking shocked.

Gengetsu and Yuka laugh hard at the sight, then Mugetsu and Kana shriek again.

Ail's gap starts opening and closing on its own several times until it finally opens up with a loud ***VWOOM*** and looks like a network of ice with unblinking eyes inside.

The flower master smiles as she stares at the gap with interest and says "oh-ho-ho~. This is something you don't see every day."

From within said gap the three dream girls rush right out, flying erratically as they excitedly head straight to the mansion's exit, shouting "finally, the real world!"; "Can't WAIT to see the sights!"; "I wonder if there are any available men around."

The ice gap closes, the girls' voices fade away in the distance, Cirno, Yuka and Phredia stare flatly toward the fleeing girls' fainting voices, then the green-haired woman sighs with annoyance and says "pheh, how rude! They didn't even offer me their loyalties!"

She takes a quick breath, smiles naturally, then says "it's alright. Come girls, let's have some warm tea to celebrate. After today I am going back to my pretties and leaving those disgusting lovers drowning in the pool."

The ice fairy cheers, not fully understanding what's just been said, while Phredia looks a bit distressed, but just accepts the invitation and takes flight beside the woman, leaving the shrine maiden and the dense boy trapped in the kissing ice to thaw out with the own heat of their love.

* * *

Outside the two mansions it's already midday, and while flying over the open fields between the Forest of Magic and the Human Village Rika sighs with frustration after hours of searching for Byakuren without success.

"_Rika-sama,_" casually says Suzaku "_why don't you use the special eyes?_"

The maid looks puzzled at her familiar, but quickly catches up and exclaims "hey, why didn't I think of that sooner! Someone like Miss Hijiri should be easy to find like that!"

The vermillion bird wants to grin mischievously, but settles with turning her head as though gesturing an eye-roll.

The busty angel-winged maid closes her eyes, her wings grow, her sword turns colorful, her eyes look like the daytime sky with clouds drifting lazily behind her pupils, and as soon as she finishes activating her Soraogan mode, those eyes of hers start glowing faint light-blue.

To Rika's eyes the world looks slightly different, but it's just what she needs.

She can see people, spirits, youkai, and other kinds of creatures as flames that represent their natural affinity.

For example, she can see Suzaku like a giant fiery flame with a gentle aura around it, and the sight is so impressive the maid flinches.

The bird looks puzzled at the shrine maid and asks "_is something wrong Master?_"

The girl nervously shakes her head and with a nervous smile says "oh, it's nothing. Nothing at all, hahaha," then looks to the ground for signs of Byakuren's flame.

"Fairy, fairies, Miss Mokou," and so she continues to casually list until she sees a red flame with a white center, a dark purple flame, and a greyish-pink flame and says "ah, there's Kyo, Medicine and Luna, headed for the clinic. I wonder if they're ok."

"_Um, Rika-sama, please focus,_" says the vermillion bird while starting straight at her master.

Rika gasps and exclaims "there she is," and points toward the Forest of Magic's western edge.

There she can see an orange flame next to a bright pure white flame that shines strongly, then dims down and suddenly intensifies again, moving back and forth between trees as though zigzag-pacing.

Fortune smiles on the maid and her familiar as they are now close to the location and begin their swift descent.

Under the trees in the forest, Byakuren nervously paces about, making her anxious pacing into a game by passing between bushes and rocks in a zigzag and walking around a random tree to restart her pacing game.

As she does this she speaks to herself as though having a conversation.

"You should stop horsing around and just go there Hijiri!"

"But what if the girls don't want me back?"

"But what if they DO want me back... um, I mean you!"

"That's true, but I just left them. Oh, they must be mad."

"They are not mad Byakuren, they love you and they want you back."

She stops her pacing and her talking, looks around herself as though expecting something, but nothing happens.

She sighs, turns around to resume her pacing, then twitches at the sight of Rika Onkamikami standing with a smile on her face and Suzaku on her shoulder.

The shrine maid bows slightly and says "Miss Byakuren, thank the gods I have found you at last. Hurry, come with me to the temple and we-EH!"

When she raises her head she notices the saint standing stiff with a wriggled smile on her face and tears flowing out of her shocked eyes.

"**AH!** Byakuren-san, why are you crying? **I'M SORRY!** I didn't mean to scare you," cries out the maid in an attempt to calm the magician monk down.

Moments later the maid and the magician sit next to a tree where the winged girl gently holds the saint's shoulder and back and softly asks "I'm so sorry about that. Are you feeling better now?"

The woman sniffles and cleans her face with the back of her right sleeve, and with a natural smile on her face she nods and says "yes, I'm sorry for the trouble. I'm just no good with surprises."

"_Oh, but that was such a rare sight, miss,_" happily says the red bird while pecking a dried tree branch to life, creating a new possible house for the woodland creatures.

The maid keeps her attention on the magician monk, then softly asks "so, miss Byakuren, what are you doing here? Don't you know the people at the temple miss you?"

The woman gulps and immediately looks away from the angelic maid, then nervously says "I-I er, not sure if I should, um, yet."

Before the sweet maid can speak any encouraging words to dear Byakuren, from the bushes behind their area a girl whispers loudly "oh sure. Man, what a stupid woman. If you wanna go, just-"

The leaves rustle and the girl says "uh-oh, I think they just heard me."

Rika and Byakuren are now on top of the voice's source, a young-looking girl with long bright orange hair tied with a white ribbon on the lower part which she keeps hung on her shoulder, bright red eyes, holding a small baton, and wearing a yellow cap, a green shirt with short yellow sleeves, yellow shorts, and a pair of white socks and red and white sneakers.

She glances over to each girl, sweats, then nervously says "erm, don't mind me, I'm not really here. You cannot see me."

The kind monk smiles and softly says "well hello there Miss youkai."

The orange-head twitches, smiles wriggled, then nervously says "um, I-I'm not a youkai, I swear! Y-you got the wrong person!"

The shrine maid extends a friendly hand toward the youkai girl and sweetly says "it's alright, we won't hurt you, but you should know it's rude to overhear someone else's conversation."

"GYAH! Get away! You're going to seal me again, like that shrine maiden did," screams the youkai girl while jumping away from Rika's hand and onto Byakuren's arms.

The well endowed monk welcomes the embrace and snuggles the lucky orange-head between her breasts, then proceeds to gently comb the side of her hair while softly whispering "there, there, it's alright. Nobody is going to seal you."

The lucky youkai girl finds herself unable to resist the soft warmness of the magician monk, her cheeks turn a bit pink, her whole body relaxes, and after a long sigh she just succumbs completely.

"There now. What a good girl you are," softly comments the monk, and after combing the girl's long hair and plucking out a few leaves and twigs, she asks "say, would you like to come with me to the Myouren Temple? It's a wonderful place where both human and youkai coexist. You'll be welcomed there as a friend."

The cute appeased youkai can't seem to speak, so she just nods and closes her eyes.

After seeing this the shrine maid takes the opportunity and says "you see Miss Byakuren? No matter what that mean old Drake said, you are meant to follow the path you have chosen."

The gradient-haired woman twitches and gasps, then rapidly ask "how did you-?", but before she finishes the question Rika stiffly says "that boy, he claims to be a god, but so far he seems to act like an overpowered bully. Just like-"

The maid looks away to the ground with a pained look, closes her eyes and shakes her head.

"Miss Rika, what's the matter?" concernedly asks the monk, still holding that lucky girl who smiles as though she's trapped inside a wonderful dream.

The angel-winged maid lifts her smiling head to the monk and says "sorry, bad mental image."

She quickly clears her throat and continues "as I was saying, Miss Byakuren, the people at the temple want you back, and you just showed yourself how wrong that Drake was. Come on, let us return to the temple, back to your home. I'll go with you if you want."

The monk magician looks at the completely relaxed youkai girl still held against her body and notices the happy smile on the girl, then thinks "_by the spirits, she's right. And this, this was the answer I was looking for!_"

Tears of joy slowly flow out the monk's eyes, and even the overly-relaxed youkai girl lifts her arm to wipe the nearest tear off and says "d-don't cry miss. You are too pretty for that."

The gradient-haired woman chuckles as she looks at the worried faces of the youkai and Rika, then sniffles and says "The Buddha never left me! The answer was right there, but I didn't see it."

The shrine maid lifts her hand, welcoming Byakuren to walk with her, then the monk nods then happily cries "please, come with me to the temple. I-I'll feel much safer," then accepts the warm and friendly hand.

As they fly out of the forest with Suzaku close behind, the maid says "hey, Miss youkai, you haven't told us your name."

The sweet and friendly monk yelps and exclaims "oh dear, where are my manners. My name is Byakuren Hijiri, and this is Rika Onkamikami, my friend, and that is Suzaku, her familiar. May I please know your name so I can address you properly?"

The extremely lucky youkai dangles her relaxed legs while the woman continues to hold and embrace her, and in a dreamy tone of voice she sighs "Oooorrraaaange~!"

Orange, the surprisingly luckily uninteresting youkai, is now headed toward Myouren, her soon-to-be new home.

* * *

Later that day, Reimu arrives to her shrine with Lina, followed promptly by Koakuma and Patchouli, the latter having puffed and bloodshot eyes from all the crying.

"Well, here we are. Let's get on with it," sighs the red and white armpit maiden while nudging the Kori girl toward her brother's remains.

And there they are, just as she left them on the wooden porch next to the support beam for the roof flaps, Leon's icy remains.

The little girl growls inward after seeing the state her brother was left in, while the purple-haired magician gasps along with a sudden twitch and starts to shiver while involuntarily placing her hands over her mouth.

Looking on with uncaring eyes and speaking with an equally uncaring tone of voice the shrine maiden says "well, go ahead and mourn him, or whatever. Just pick up after yourselves after you're done."

"REIMU!", furiously calls the little demon. "How can you be so heartless, you demon maiden?"

Patchouli sobs and chokes on her own voice, yet manages to hiccup "how can. you be. so. so uncaring. Re-Reimu? Y. you're suppose. to be a. shrine maideeeen~!", and ends up letting it all out in a loud bawl.

"Lady Patchouli, calm down," calls Koakuma before turning a hateful glare to the maiden and growls "look what you did now you heartless-!"

She turns to look at her mistress again and softly says "c-calm down, it's alright. I mean, you did send him to his death, but it's-", thus causing the magician to bawl louder.

The shrine maiden casually shrugs and says "hey, don't call **me** heartless. I'm not the one that sent him running around at night for no reason."

"**MUKYUUUU~**"

The magician's eyes have become small wiggly white orbs, her mouth is opened wide as her laments flow out of her heart, and even with the little sexy devil trying to comfort her the magician continues to cry like a heartbroken child.

Lina approaches the cruel shrine maiden and whispers "miss, I think you're laying it on too thick. Just look at her go."

Reimu stares with a bit of pity toward the bawling magician and her now crying assistant and thinks "_wow, I didn't think she was this sorry about that. Still looking at them both cry like that is kind'a cute._"

She looks down at the ice girl who sternly says "I know what you're thinking. Stop that."

The sadistic red and white chuckles softly, looks into the girl's eyes, then nods and says "alright, I think she learned her lesson."

The two librarians stop crying after barely hearing what the maiden said, and although they want to ask what exactly the two girls are talking about, they decide to keep quiet and watch the Kori girl approach her brother's remains.

"What a mess," mumbles the girl as she cups her hands around the mist, then the cruel sadist shrine maiden says "I thought you needed to learn a lesson Patchouli, but seeing you cry like that makes me believe you already have."

The sobbing girls look at the somewhat mean maiden and Patchouli whines "wha-? What are you talking about?"

Reimu winks her right eye as she smirks, then points toward the ice girl.

Lina is focusing magic around her hands as she gestures a mimic-shape of her brother around the mist and the ice dust, then a glowing light-lime frame with Leon's shape forms.

The mist and the dust start mixing inside the frame, they twirl and spin around like a powerful snowstorm, and in a sudden burst of cold Leon's body appears leaning against the wooden beam, but for some inexplicable reason his clothes appear next to him and flop on the floor.

The boy moans as he slowly wakes up, slightly opens his eyes, stretches his arms, then softly asks "mmm, is it morning already?"

Patchouli Knowledge grabs the boy by the face and gives him a peck-kiss right on the lips, then drops on top of him with a strong embrace while crying "you're alive, you're alive, by the spell you're alive! I'm so sorry, please forgive me! Please, please!"

When the ice boy finally regains his bearings and notices his love embracing his naked body, his face turns red, his hair stands on end, his eyes bulge with shock, then he shouts "Pa-Pa-PATCHOULI my love! Wait, I'm not clothed! What's going on? I said wait!"

"No! Leon, I'm so sorry~! I only wanted you gone for the night! I never wanted you to die! Please forgive me! I'm not a bad per-BERLGH!"

The sudden relief, mixed with the excitement and guilt-screaming proves too much for the purple-haired magician and ends up coughing an unholy amount of blood on the floor next to her and the boy, and falling semi-conscious on his bare lap.

"Wait, what's this?" nervously shouts the boy "um, my love, this is rather inappropriate! Um, you need to get off now! ...**SIS!**"

Reimu can't help but laugh at the ironic sight while Lina helps her brother out, and although wanting to laugh at such irony too, the relieved demon librarian approaches the maiden and asks "you knew about this? Wh-why did you put us through all that then?"

The maiden finishes her laugh with a giggle and says "you are the only person that unmoving library actually socializes with, and that has made her cold and uncaring. Or at least I thought that was the case."

Koakuma giggles after watching the boy bashfully cover himself up while his sister orders him to dress up, then the maiden continues "after what she did to this boy I wanted to punish her with some guilt, and maybe wake her up from that solitary world."

Both maiden and demon giggle after Leon cries because he can't put his shirt back on, claiming he's in front of Patchouli, then the maiden finishes "but I can see she's already awake, and that she was faking being cold. But I still had to punish her."

The sexy little demon stares at the shrine maiden, then at her magical mistress and the Kori twins, then smiles and says "you can be so unforgiving sometimes."

The shrine maiden shrugs and casually says "eh, it's all part of the game."

"You would know plenty of the game of violence, Miss Hakurei," says a familiar boy's voice from behind the girls.

"Ail~" sings the happy maiden while turning around, then she can see Sanae right next to the boy and her tone changes to dangerous when she says "and the green girl. Gee, that's great."

* * *

Ail, Cirno and Sanae with Phredia on her shoulder stand beside the shrine's entrance, and while the two fairies look fresh and content, the couple look a bit worn and wet, probably from having to thaw out of that ice.

The two shrine maidens lock eyes as they prepare to attack each other, but the dense boy quickly jumps in between the two and angrily shouts "whoa there, stop this at once! We didn't come here for stupid squabbling, we just came here because Cirno wants to go back with Rika, and to ask you if you can help me flush Mima out of hiding."

The Hakurei Maiden smiles sweetly toward her favorite man and says "I'm sorry but Rika's not here. She's out looking for Byakuren, but I can take care of this little one for her until she's back."

To Cirno, Reimu's sweet smile looks like the ominous grin of a dark demon with thunder and lightning effects on the background, so she cowers behind Sanae's skirt, whimpering and trembling.

The maiden somehow stands with her face a mere inch away from Ail's and seductively says "but you know, I could take care of you if you want."

The dense one lives up to his name and scratches his chin while in deep thought, then casually says "but I'm not a kid, Reimu."

The blue and white maiden pulls the dense boy away from the red and white, presses his head against her chest, and angrily says "quit that or I'm going to have to get serious, Reimu! Ail-kun is MINE."

A vein pulsates on the Hakurei Maiden's forehead, then from behind Koakuma says "um, sorry for the trouble Hakurei. It's getting weird now, so we will be leaving, so, um, thanks."

The group watches as the little demon carries the ghostly-paled-faced half-dead Patchouli and takes fight, and then Leon asks "seriously, what happened? I only remember falling asleep, then nothing."

Lina chuckles and says "it's alright, let's just go home and rest," then she grabs her brother under his arms and lifts to the air with ease.

Shortly after they leave, Flandre jumps out of a nearby tree with a camera around her neck and an audio recorder on her hands and says "come on, they're getting away! I don't want to miss Patchy's recovery! She might kiss him again!"

Aya flies right out of the tree with a video camera on hand and says "ayayayaya~ So scandalous! I wonder how far she'll go! Will we see a home run?"

The maidens, the fairies and the boy remain in place and watch in silence as this particular scene unfolds in front of them, then Ail approaches the aggressive red and white and says "hey Reimu, about flushing Mima out of hiding-"

Sanae screams in pain and when the boy turns around he sees a strange green magical circle under his girlfriend's and similarly colored electric bolts coursing through her body.

Phredia was lucky enough to get away in time and continues to pull Cirno away from the trapped maiden, in case the ice fairy tries something foolish.

"SANAE!" Ail, on the other hand, rushes straight to his girl with great concern after hearing her scream like that and watches horrorstruck as her skin turns pale.

Without thinking, the boy throws his hands in to assist the girl.

Reimu clicks her tongue and mutters under her breath, and the magical circle beneath the blue and white dispels, allowing the maiden to fall limp on her boyfriend's arms.

"Sanae, are you alright?", desperately calls the boy, who is so agitated he doesn't notice he's feeling his girl up as she hangs on his arms.

It doesn't last long as the green-haired maiden lifts a contorted raging face, snarls at the black-haired maiden and rushes to attack.

"No, wait! Sanae, Reimu, stop-" shouts the boy, but his words fall on deaf ears.

The shrine maidens quickly lock hands and push against each other, growling and snarling like wild beasts.

"That was a really nasty trick, you sick bitch," grumbles Sanae.

"I got plenty more where that came from, green cow," grumbles Reimu.

They push each other back with all their might and end up several feet away from each other, take to the skies, then resume their battle with one danmaku shower after another.

On the ground, Ail sighs and face palms, looks at the fairies and sighs "seriously, why are they fighting so much?", then rummages through his pocket for a spell card and flies six feet in the air after taking one out, then hovers below where the two girls' bullets meet.

He raises the card and shouts "Light Sign, Within the Jewel's Core!"

Seven blue and white stars with eight pointy edges form around the boy, then each star starts spinning and shooting one of their edges at random.

The shot pieces fly at the speed of light toward the girls, each trailing small blue spikes that fly straight, mixing up with the ones already flying around and making it look like a scattered mess.

The girls shout "**hey, what's the meaning of this?**", then quickly scream when each is pierced and burned by countless tiny pointy spike bullets.

After getting blasted several times over, the girls fall unconscious to the ground and somehow land safely on their backs.

Ail flies after Sanae, kneels beside her, places his hand on her forehead, then she wakes up, scowls at the boy and angrily exclaims "what's the big idea! Why the hell did you attack me, you idiot!"

"SANAE," shouts the boy, getting his girl's attention, then he sighs and calmly says "Sanae, please go home. You need to rest."

"WHAT?" shrieks the girl with surprise.

"Ail, we haven't found Budou yet, and I promised you I'd stay with you all the way! Oh, it's Reimu, isn't it? Grr, when I get my hands on her-"

The boy's silent smile calms the raging girl down, then he gently combs her bangs to the side, kisses her forehead, then says "I'll be fine. You, however, need to rest. You haven't had a good night sleep for a while now."

A blue gap opens up to the right and quickly shows the Moriya Shrine's living room, then the boy softly says "I don't know what's going on with you an Reimu, though I admit she's acting damned weird, but if it's her that is worrying you then don't."

Sanae looks into the boy's eyes and remains staring for a whole minute, not even noticing Phredia returning to her shoulder.

She smiles, stands up with Ail's help, and after a quick kiss on the lips she turns toward the open gap and says "I'll have a treat for Budou and for you when you return home."

The girl then walks into the gap while the dense one waves and says "I'll look forward to that," then can't help but smile goofily while staring at his girl's back while she walks.

The gap closes, Cirno stares with worry at the boy, then he asks "you want to go back to the lake?"

"I promise I'd take care of her while Rika returns" calmly says Reimu from behind.

The dense one turns around and casually asks "what about Mima? Do you know how can I lure her out?"

The Hakurei Maiden wants nothing more than to jump on this boy and eat him with kisses, especially now that her rival is gone, but one look into his eyes tells her that would be a very bad move, especially when she's so tired.

She smiles at him and sighs, places her hand on her waist, then shakes her head while looking at the ground in front of her feet.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Myouren Temple grounds, one happy-looking yamabiko youkai sweeps the path to the large building while contently singing "and so, miss Byakuren returned to her home, spanked the captain and petted the tiger, then gave me the bowl with rice and fish, and-eh?"

Kyouko turns around when she hears a couple of feet tap the ground, and when her eyes explore the visitors she gasps with excitement, raises her brown yamabiko ears, then turns around, cups her hands and her hears start vibrating as she excitedly shouts "**IT'S BYAKUREN! HIJIRI-CHAN IS BACK!**"

She turns around with that overly excited smile of hers and giggles as the saint-like monk bashfully says "hello," then notices Rika and Suzaku and turns around to shout "**and she came with Miss Rika-chan and Suzaku~!**", then she turns around again, notices Orange still blissfully embraced between the monk's womanhood, then turns around again and shouts "**and she brought a flaming lesbian!**"

Knowing that 'flaming' bit meant her, the orange-haired youkai pushes herself from Byakuren's wonderful embrace, walks over to the yamabiko, then angrily shouts "who the HELL are you calling a lesbian you screaming gremlin!"

Kyouko looks up at the newcomer, then angrily says "to the perverted girl holding on to Byakuren-chan like that?"

The mentioned monk, the shrine maid and the Bird of Vermillion can see a multitude following after the eager Shou, Nazrin, Ichirin, Unzan and Kogasa, while the arguing newcomers continue their debate.

"Hey, just because I liked a hug doesn't make me a lesbian," declares the orangey-themed youkai.

"Besides," she continues while bending forward "I happen to have had a boyfriend in the past, something a little girl like you can't possibly understand."

"Wait, are you trying to steal a kiss from me? But I'm not into that!", cries Kyouko while nervously getting away from Orange.

The baton-wielding youkai gasps and straightens up, then points at the cute yamabiko and angrily says "look, I am NOT A LESBIAN! Wait, you're trying to pick a fight, is that it?"

Byakuren and Rika giggle at the sight, then the monk says "aww, how sweet. They're already such good friends."

The girls scowl toward the woman and exclaim "**we're not friends, we're fight**-"

A pair of silvery washtubs crash on the two quarreling girls' heads, making a powerful clang upon impact, then disappear after bouncing once on the ground.

As the Myouren girls and the multitude arrives, Byakuren picks Orange and embraces her again, cooing "aww, how unfortunate. And you were getting along so well."

Rika bends down and picks the whimpering Kyouko, then coos "aww, there now, it's alright, I got you."

Both youkai simultaneously relax, their cheeks turn pink, and as if synchronized, they both adjust their necks to place their heads on the embracing girls' breasts.

Meanwhile, after reaching the spot where the washtubs fell, Shou looks up to the sky and casually comments "but the sky was clear. Why is it raining?"

She then turns her sight down and looks at Byakuren, then smiles, slightly bows her head, suppressing her desire to jump on the monk, and says "welcome back Lady Hijiri."

Feeling a little shy, the Youkhrist nervously bows her head and says "i-it's good to-to be back Shou."

From her bosom, Orange points at Kyouko and speaking like a drunk she says "hah! N-now whoze-whose the lezbian."

From Rika's bosom, Kyouko glowers at Orange and speaking like a sleepy three-year-old she says "I'm not les-lesbian, m-meanie girl."

The multitude stares in disbelief at the blissful quarrelers, but nobody says a thing, then the monk magician smiles and sounding a bit more eager she says "oh that's right. Girls, this is Orange. I invited her to stay with us, is that alright?"

Ichirin and Unzan look at each other, and with a serene look and soft voice the hooded girl says "of course. We trust Lady Hijiri's judgment."

Kogasa closes her right eye and stick out her tongue, making herself look cute in the process and says "more victims for me to surprise!"

Nazrin looks away with a flat stare while swaying her tail around and casually says "whatever. More hands to help, another mouth to feed. No biggie Miss Hijiri"

Shou can't remove her eyes from the magician monk, and though overwhelmed with emotions she calmly says "w-we're just so glad to see you again. Right guys?"

The saint can't help but smile and shed a tear of joy when the multitude cheers once for her return, then her expression changes to concern as she asks "hey, where are Nue and Mini-chan?"

Somewhere at the Youkai Forest, Nitori seems a slight bit uncomfortable as she reaches the river's edge and asks "a-are you sure? Really, I'm ok on my own. A-and there's nothing I can't handle on my own form here."

To her right, the perverted Captain Murasa pants hard, her cheeks remain red, and she keeps eyeing the kappa's thighs while saying "oh no, no, no~! I can't let you risk your life on your own after being so kind to one of our own. I will gladly keep you company until you fall asleep so I can take your-keep you safe as payment!"

The little kappa thinks hard for a moment, looks around herself, then smiles wide with a giggle and says "alright then. As long as I'm not taking your time or anything, then it's ok!"

Back at the temple grounds Byakuren and Rika are cheered upon and treated with great respect, particularly the shrine maid for being the one who brought the Youkhrist back, even though she humbly requests to be treated equally.

Even Suzaku is being cheered upon, and as they slowly make their way back to the temple, the disappointed Orange and Kyouko pout while dragging from behind, then the yamabiko grumbles "fine, I'll stop calling you a lesbian."

To that, the orange-haired youkai grumbles "yeah, whatever. Thanks."

They both sigh and hang their hands as though depressed, then say "**she let go of me too soon.**"

They suddenly twitch and look surprised at each other, point at one-another and shout "**LESBIAN!**"

Not paying attention to the arguing girls Byakuren looks at the tiger youkai and concernedly asks "Shou, what about Nue? Why didn't you tell me about-"

And there, up the stairs and looking outside from the doorway is Nue, holding herself up with a crutch under her right arm, covered in bloodied bandages and growing new wings.

The monk yelps and quickly takes flight, rushes over the crowd, then lands right in front of the surprised nue youkai and softly asks "Nue, what happened to you?", while placing her fingers on the girl's cheek

The black-haired girl quickly turns around with a frightened look, but Byakuren grabs her, quickly but gently turns her around, places her warm hand on the nue's right temple, then softly asks "what happened to you?"

Strong emotions run through Nue, strong enough to destroy a human, as she thinks of her battle with that godling, how she thought she'd be kicked out after the magician in front of her left, how she blindly attacked that boy without thinking of anything other than her revenge, and tears start piling up under her right eye and moisten the bandages around her left.

She gets a light embrace from the kind magician, and though able to contain her sobs, her tears continue to flow, and even so she remains quiet as she thinks her revelation could turn this sweet woman against her.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Eirin's Clinic, Kyo and Luna sit beside each other on one of the beds, like good little children, while the Lunarian doctor finishes reading through a small piece of paper on a wooden clip-board.

Reisen stands to her master's side with her ears lowered and giving everything in the room a pitiable look, and Medicine with Su-San hovering over her shoulder, stands in front of her two humans with expectancy in her eyes.

"And it seems you two are just fine, oh and it's fine if you two want to get naughty tonight," casually says the doctor with a rather peppy smile on her face.

"YES!", exclaims the silver-haired hottie, while the muscular boy blushes and grins silently, probably thinking something lewd.

The puppet youkai scowls at the doctor and demands "hey! Don't give these perverts any more ideas! I'm already having nightmares while awake thanks to them!"

The Lunarian happily gestures toward a large bottle filled with white pills and says "I have some Butterfly Dream Pills, guaranteed you'll have pleasant dreams or your money back."

"How much?", immediately asks the poisonous girl.

"Ten yen a pill," casually replies the doctor while smiling ever so peachy.

"**I'LL TAKE TWENTY!**" savagely demands the sleep-deprived doll with bloodshot eyes intensified, fists clenched and fangs bare, and so the doctor happily hands her a small envelope with the order as soon as the money exchanges hands.

Ignoring Medicine and her antics, Kyo casually points to the Moon Rabbit and asks "and what's wrong with Reisen? She looks down."

"And we haven't heard or seen whispers of Tewi, or any of the rabbits," says Luna with concern.

Eirin's face locks up with confusion for a brief moment, then manages to answer "it's... a rather complicated story-" but before she can speak more Kaguya quickly enters the room while saying "Eirin, allow me."

She walks closer to the trio and angrily says "yesterday a boy by the name of Drake Starstriker came by the mansion."

Hearing the boy's name does not bring any happy thoughts to the visiting trio and the muscle boy quickly asks "what did that bastard do now?"

"Ah," sighs the princess. "I see you have crossed paths with him. Very well, it should make things simpler."

During a short pause for the princess to get her breath, Eirin tugs Reisen's sleeve and angrily whispers "you will stay here and listen."

Kaguya looks coldly toward her guests while she remembers, something rarely seen by visitors, and says "he came here by mistake, he took our hospitality for granted, taunted Tewi, then viciously murdered two of my rabbits when they tried to defend her."

"Kyo, Luna, and you too, Medicine," snaps the Moon Princess while glancing at each, then says "I sent him off with a warning and promised to hunt him down, but my rabbits are no match for him and **we** need to find Tewi. Would you three please search for him and bring him to justice for us? You will be rewarded if you succeed, of course."

The boy hops off the bed and smiles, the youkai puppet stand in front of his leg and glares, and the woman on the bed crosses her gorgeous legs and chuckles mischievously.

"We'll do it," says the boy in a cold tone "but not just for Eintei. We also have our own reasons for doing this, but now that it's been requested, I believe we can squeeze it in our top _to-do_ list."

The princess' face relaxes as a smile and a relief-chuckle escape her, then, looking more like herself, the girl bows her head only slightly and softly says "thank you."

She glances over to her subordinate and her lunar rabbit pet, then says "I'll continue looking for her, then. Rabbits die when they get lonely after all."

Reisen gulps but remains silent, and Eirin simply nods and replies "you are most kind, princess."

On their walk home after leaving the clinic, Luna clings to Kyo's shoulders and asks "so how are we going to do this honey?"

"I don't really know," replies the boy while giving his woman a naughty stare and sickening Medicine, then continues "but I think you and I are overdue."

The woman chuckles mischievously, but before she can answer a small voice calls "hey!"

The trio turn their heads to the left and see Tewi Inaba walking out from between bamboo shoots with a dreadfully scornful look in her eyes.

She approaches the party, takes of her carrot necklace off, then hands it over to the boy and says "I am too weak to face him on my own."

Medicine casually says "hey, your master is looking for you."

"I DON'T CARE!", barks the rabbit, swinging her right arm in the air like a makeshift blade.

She looks up at Kyo and says "that insufferable man is powerful, but with all the luck that thing has sponged off me I think you have a fighting chance."

Before anyone can speak, the rabbit youkai is already running back to hiding, and before jumping into the bamboo she stops and coldly says "make him pay for what he's done! Bring us his head if you can."

With that, the party find themselves on their own again with a lucky trinket held on the open palm of the spiky-haired boy.

The couple suddenly turn back to each other, chuckle while closing their faces in, then Medicine cries "but it's too early for this!"

Out of desperation, the youkai puppet grabs one of her Butterfly Dream Pills, swallows it whole, then drops on the floor almost immediately, sleeping with content a smile on her face.

Kyo sighs, picks up the girl with an annoyed stare, then looks at Luna, smiles again, then says "let's get her to bed."

The girl quickly adds "then we'll get to our own," making her man blush and steam through his ears and nose

* * *

At that very same moment, in the darkest reaches of the Forest of Magic, Drake walks about with a backpack provided by Alice, evident by the pink color and frilly threads knitted around the borders, full with the materials she requested.

Of course, having _rented_ that backpack at the last moment cost him a slight increase in the number of materials to gather, though this does not seem to faze him.

While walking he reads through the list "twenty yards of cave-spider threads, check."

At a well known cave entrance leading to the subterranean, the blonde spider, Yamame Kurodani, runs around her moist domain while frantically shouting "but I left one here! And there was another here! **Where are my webs at?**"

"Twenty-four ounces of butterfly fairy dust, check," continues the boy, while somewhere in the forest, a trio of butterfly fairies fly past Marisa's house, sobbing and crying about their wings turning all white.

"Blue-spotted mushroom, only got two of those, and a bottle or two of arsenic, check," finishes the godling.

He looks around himself while still holding up the list and casually says "huh, to think that arsenic I got was a happy accident," then an impossibly large and furry bear appears before the boy and threatens to slice him with its claws.

Drake stares flatly at the monster while it roars, he lifts his right hand, then the giant bear turns slightly translucent and fizzles like a bad television image.

He bends his fingers toward the image of the bear, his hand begins to glow, then he turns his hand upward, clenches his hand into a fist, then three little girls scream as they are forced out of a nearby tree and fall in a pile in front of the boy's feet where the bear was.

The one on top wears a white dress with black ribbons, a pair of brown shoes, a white mop-cap with black ribbons on her curly blonde hair, has a pair of crescent wings floating around her back, and has brown eyes.

The one in the middle wears a white and red dress, a yellow neckerchief, a pair of black slip-on shoes, a headdress on her golden hair, which she ties into twin pig-tails, has a set of straight wings floating around her back, and has light-blue eyes.

The one on bottom wears a blue dress with long white sleeves and shoulders, a pair of brown cross-laced boots, long flowing black hair adorned by a frilly blue ribbon, her butterfly-like wings float just over her back, and has grey eyes.

The three mischievous fairies of light moan as they struggle to get up, then the one in the middle grunts "urgh, I can't feel my wings."

The boy glares at the three fairies for some time, and while he does he remembers how on many adventures before a trio of fairies, either the size of a human adult or child, would assist him greatly.

He suddenly smiles at the sight, sighs with great relief, then says "finally, trustworthy allies in this monster-ridden world."

The fairy trio look at each other in confusion while still in a pile, and none is able to come up with something to say to this matter.

At the very same time, over the clouds in heaven, Suika walks after Tenshi, apparently arguing over something the celestial is not interested in discussing.

"Just go down there already. You know you want to," taunts the little oni while walking after the celestial.

Quickening her pace, the blue haired celestial growls inward and grumbles "busy. Go away."

Suika stops, she looks at the stubborn celestial with a drunken and childish stare, then jumps toward her target, tackles her to the ground, then grabs her right hand and slams it flat on the surprisingly solid cloud and wile smiling says "don't lie to an oni. We don't like that. Now tell me the truth or I'm doing something nasty. And oni don't lie."

Tenshi struggles hard for her freedom to no avail and the drunken oni grabs her pinky and starts pulling it up while saying "and after this I'm playing bull again. Do you like it when I play bull?"

The eldest daughter whines while shaking her head, her face turns blue when fear and the pain from her pinky start mixing together, then she cries "alright, **alright**, you win! I'm mad at her! I'm really mad at her!"

Having already gotten off the whining celestial, the little oni sits on the edge of a cloud to look down at Gensokyo while drinking, then says "Reimu was right. So if that's the case, then-"

The cute, flat-chested celestial sit next to the oni girl, sobbing softly as she does so, then says "she hurt me! I protected her from those idiots and kept her company and, and. Grr, and she pins me as one of them! It's just not fair! I am her friend!"

The cute oni smacks the celestial on the chest with her gourd offering her a drink, and while Tenshi gulps down that liquid as if it were water Suika says "right, then I'll give you Reimu's message. Ahem, I quote '_Although I don't really like the idea, please set aside your selfishness and come over to see Rika. If you don't she's going to get sad again, and then I'll have to seal your ass and drag you back here myself,_' unquote."

Handing back the gourd, the surprised celestial asks "did she really say all that?"

"Oni don't lie," repeats the drunkard.

The celestial looks down and obviously spots her special shrine maid friend, evident in the glow in her eyes, then Suika sighs loud after taking a big gulp and adds "she also said that if you didn't want to go back down no matter what, she'd comfort Rika on her own and make her the bride's maid for her wedding with Ail."

The oni is surprised to see the blue-haired celestial is gone from her side and quickly turns her torso.

Before she can ask or say anything the celestial roars "I'll be there tomorrow, first thing in the morning. I'm sorry I won't go today, I just don't feel like it."

"Just remember," warningly says Suika, "if you make me look like a liar I'm coming up here and taking you down there **MY WAY**, you understand what that means, I hope."

Hiding her eyes under her hat, the celestial turns sideways and nods, then continues on her way back home.

* * *

Back at the Forest of Magic, Drake sits on the ground in front of the mischievous, lying, fairy trio, and pointing at each girl he says "so, Luna Child, Sunny Milk, and Star Sapphire. Hm, nice names."

The golden-haired Sunny raises an arm and casually says "we are the three fairies of light."

"And we can grant wishes to humans who are nice to us," adds the black-haired Star with an eager tone of voice.

"_Haven't these two learned that lying leads to trouble?_", thinks the blonde-haired Luna while glancing at her companion.

"Wishes to humans, hmm," repeats the boy sounding suspicious, then asks "then why were you trying to scare me with that fake bear?"

The three fairies twitch, then the nervous blue-eyed fairy replies "th-that wasn't ours, really."

The boy can see they are lying, especially when beads of sweat form up around their little foreheads.

He sighs, smiles warmly, then says "you don't have to lie to me, I'm the good guy. Was someone after you? You can tell me."

The fairies twitch again and huddle up, then the black-haired girl whispers "he's not falling for it. What should we do?"

The nervous blonde sighs and says "I say we leave. He looks very dangerous and I much rather not make him angry at us."

The peppy goldy-locks groans with frustration then whispers "leave it to me girls, he'll fall for it. Just don't say a word and let me do the rest of the talking. And Luna, don't let him hear that whooshing!"

The fairies break the huddle, look deceivingly sweetly toward the godling and Sunny says "we have decided that we will grant you a wish to prove we are saying the truth. Is there anything you wish for?"

"Can you make me a god already?" eagerly asks the boy.

A large drop of sweat rolls down the side of the three fairies' heads, then the red and white fairy chuckles nervously "he-heh-er, that's a bit out of our league. Anything else you can think of?"

"_Hah, I guess I really did ask too much,_" thinks the boy before sighing "well, how about you help me find five blue-spotted mushrooms."

Star softly claps her hands together and eagerly says "that sounds reasonable."

Sunny raises her fist in the air and cheers "that's an easy one for us!"

Luna flaps her wings, leans slightly forward while holding her hands together and softly says "we can do that."

Then the peppy golden-haired fairy grins, and with a mischievous tone of voice says "come closer so we may grant you your wish mister Drake."

The boy smiles and chuckles to himself, stands up, and right as he takes his first step, form his left a girl shouts "GET'EM, GET'EM! We're making liar stew today!"

"Is that so~?" asks another girl, then the three fairies shriek and take to the sky after Rumia and Agava come rushing toward them with crazed faces and hungry looks.

Rumia, the deceivingly silly darkness youkai, has short blonde hair, red eyes, has a red ribbon tied to the right of her head, and wears a black vest over a long-sleeved white shirt, a long black skirt, and brown shoes.

Agava, the surprisingly mean-but-kind shadow youkai, has long black hair that reaches down to her lower back and is tied to a ponytail with a black ribbon, has dark-blue eyes, and wears a tight thighless purple ninja suit that enhances her already-enhanced womanhood, an open sleeveless black vest, a long black skirt with a slit on the side, and a pair of furry brown boots, as well as her red amplifier bracelet.

The shadow youkai points upward and shouts "don't let them escape," then she and the cute youkai of darkness take flight after the fairies.

Their path is blocked by Drake who threatens them with those glowing magic siphoning hands of his and threateningly says "so you're the ones threatening the fairies! Prepare to die creatures of the darkness!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on there boyo," exclaims the shadow girl as she and her cute partner skid to a stop while in mid-air.

"We just saved your butt and this is how you thank us?"

Rumia looks at her busty partner and says "aww, you are such a good girl. It makes me wanna HUG YOU!"

The godling looks slightly confused at the girls and almost lowers his guard, but quickly raises his hands again and barks "LIES! Your playful act won't fool me!"

The darkness youkai frowns and shouts "hey, stop shouting. And we are telling the truth here."

"Sure we like playing pranks," casually comments the sexy shadow youkai, then she points down to a dark hole between where Drake and the fairies were, large enough for the boy to fall through and says "but at least we don't go over the edge like those fairies."

The boy's eyes tremble when he notices that deep hole and the sharp rocks at the bottom of it, not dangerous enough to kill immediately, but any human that falls in there would either die a terribly slow death by bleeding, or be saved of death but lose a couple of limbs instead.

He lowers his guard completely and asks "but... you are monsters. Why did you help me?"

The darkness girl slowly shakes her head while clicking her tongue, while at the same time Agava face palms and groans, then says "you gotta work on that xenophobia kid. Things are not always what they seem in this place."

The girls fly past the godling to resume their chase of the fairies, but before they are out of sight the curvy shadow turns around and shouts "that hole is full of those mushrooms you need boyo! Just be careful with the weird energies currents and the funky smell in there!"

Drake slowly descends while thinking "_but the fairies. They were good allies before, and the monsters were enemies. But the monsters are the allies now? I ...I don't understand._"

He looks to the hole the fairies had hidden from him with the intent of having him fall unprepared and unaware, then looks up to the sky at the two dark girls and bites his bottom lip while lost in deep thought.

* * *

Later at noon, above the poisonous flower fields on the Nameless Hill, Ail stares suspiciously around the area, feeling Mima's presence is close by.

"She's here, yet I cannot see her," he says to himself while looking around.

"Reimu was right. I would have never found her if I hadn't asked for her help."

He takes out a large lilac talisman with a maze-like pattern drawn on it from his pocket while saying "and to think this only cost me three minutes of straight bone-crushing hugging. What was that Reimu thinking anyway? My ribs are still sore."

The dense one closes his eyes, thinks of Budou and Mima, then the talisman flies out of his hands, drops like a saw-blade toward the flower field, then stops just above a particular flower bud that appears to be glowing faintly.

Before the boy can react the talisman glows and the flower bud bursts with a loud plop, and Mima and Budou are force out of hiding.

"Argh, dammit! Premature revelations!", shouts the angry evil spirit while holding on to the cute bat youkai with one hand on holding her right eye with the other.

Said little youkai smacks her lips while slowly looking around, then moans loudly and weakly says "are we there yet? I want my papa."

She then notices Ail in front, whines as she reaches for her papa, then cries "papa, I'm sorry~! I didn't mean all those things," then rapidly falls asleep on the spirit's arms.

"Found you," declares Ail as he bravely raises a spell card, then defiantly says "you either give me back Budou or I'm going to take her from you by-Tch, HEY! What's wrong with her?"

Casual and uninterested, Mima flaps her hand twice in the air and calmly says "spirit energy withdrawal. She just needs a nice meal and she'll be fine. You just happen to have caught us before I had the chance to give her just that."

The boy's spell card glows as he glares with rage toward the evil spirit and everything turns black.

He feels strange, as though his whole body is stiff and almost impossible to move, yet he refuses to give in, and that's when his eyes adjust.

The Nameless Hill's silhouette is there but the flowers are all gone, the sky and ground are all pitch black, a few purple shades reveal some form of background, and flying in front of him, holding her crescent moon staff and sporting three pairs of violet demonic wings, is one pissed-off-looking, yet smiling Mima with a powerful aura around her.

He tries to move his hand and quickly learns his spell card is gone, he tries opening a few barriers so that his body feels lighter but nothing works, instead he feels sharp pain taking him.

The evil spirit laughs as her eyes glow green, then she says "you're strong kid, but like I said before, you ain't Yukari. Heck, even Reimu could kick your butt if she wanted to."

"What the hell do you want? Budou," grunts the boy out of despair.

"Relax, jeez," exclaims the evil spirit. "I'd never purposely harm that sweet little girl. Though I did wake her youkai instincts. I never thought she'd be THAT much fun."

Ail tries to shout a very rude insult, but all he manages to do is grunt.

The sexy evil spirit before him giggles, then says "flattery will get you nowhere. Now, seeing as we're here, why don't we get down to business. First off, dear boy, what did I ask of you a few days ago? What **EXACTLY** did I ask of you?"

He tries speaking, but all he can do is grunt, then the spirit girl smirks and says "whoops. Too much," then waves her arm at the boy and sings "all better now~!"

The dense boy quickly curls up after feeling relief from all that magical pressure, then Mima curiously says "odd. Reimu can take that much and doesn't even flinch. Are you sure you're a man?"

"Grr, shut up! And where is Budou now?", angrily asks the boy shortly after uncurling.

He now finds himself face to face with the magical monster while she grips his neck, her grin looks terrifying with those jagged teeth and those sinister eyes with demonic black and white pupils don't help the boy settle.

"She is FINE! Now answer my damned question before I murder you," hisses the clearly-aggravated evil spirit.

The dense boy's nerves turn to jelly and with a ghostly pale face he nervously says "eh, um, y-you asked me to s-stay away from Reimu f-for a few days."

In an instant he's free again and Mima has turned away, and in her usual calm and playful voice she asks "and did you?"

"Yes," desperately replies the boy.

"**WRONG!**", screams the demonic spirit with her voice echoing loudly after suddenly turning around and growing ten times her own size, adding a slithering snake tongue to her already terrifying appearance.

"You went BACK in time and interacted with her younger, more naive self! Even after I CLEARLY asked you to stay away from her for DAYS, not go back in time and flirt with her!"

The boy stares with shock to the woman and can only stammer while his mind races with questions, then finally manages to peep "b-but-"

"OH, I KNOW, YOU IDIOT!", screams the terrifying spirit. "Many of us know what you did, how you affected the flow of time just by being there! How you attracted Sariel to the shrine using all that magic without even thinking! How you saved Reimu when she was SUPPOSED to save herself! None of it can be undone! You ruined EVERYTHING!"

She recovers her usual size and speaks with a normal, but aggravated tone of voice, "and seeing as the Enma brought you back here that must mean she must be cooking one HELL of a punishment for your actions. As for me, I used Budou to get to you! You got it too easy you enlightened idiot! I wasn't going to let that happen!"

The enraged spirit slowly flies back to her initial position while the boy stammers, being too nervous to be able to form normal words, and before allowing him to make up one the evil spirit turns around and says "that said, it now comes to this. You will fight with me. You will use everything you got and I will hit you back with everything I got. A fair warning, your shield spell won't protect you, and you only have about seventeen percent chance of beating me. I suggest you dodge what I throw at you and endure."

A cold chill creeps over the boy's spine, his mouth dries up, his vision blurs, and after his body settles he realizes he is holding his spell card again.

Mima grins viciously, chuckles softly, then says "by the way, I won't be using spell cards this time. I'm sorry Ail, I know I owe you for freeing me and all that, but I can't let this one slide just like that. Now..."

The boy gulps, a single tear escapes his right eye when the realization of what he's done hits him, then he screams.

His body feels like a hundred spears have just pierced his skin, followed by a thousand needles that enter his blood-stream and flow in and out of his whole body, and then everything stops.

He falls to the dark nothingness below, weakened by the unfair punishment just received, then the spirit calmly says "no, not yet. I'm not done with you yet," and encasing the boy in a magical sphere she lifts him back up and forces him to take flight.

"Look below you," softly commands the woman, and so the dense boy weakly does so.

His eyes expand dangerously when below himself he sees the very same magical circle Reimu placed under Sanae only a few hours before.

Mima smiles after looking at the boy's face and says "she learned that one from me. A deadly spell that can damage the target's mind if not released soon. She used it against your girlfriend, and don't be surprised if she tries it again. Or perhaps she'll try something more lethal."

Worry, despair, disappointment, anxiousness, all flow through the boy's being, forcing him to cry uncontrollably as he whimpers "why?"

The spirit face palms with a groan and says "you are as dense as a ball of lead. Enough talking! Time for your spanking!"

And with hands and staff glowing with pure energy, the evil spirit lunges at the boy with all her rage.

* * *

That night, at the Myouren Temple, Byakuren tends to Nue as though tending to a human child, feeling guilty of the youkai's current condition, thinking it's all because she left as she did, which is half-right.

The nue, on the other hand, feels guilty for what she's done, what the woman is doing for her, and is considering telling everything to the monk, yet she fears what might happen to her if she did.

"Open up~," sweetly whispers the monk magician as she takes a spoonful of soup to the youkai girl's mouth, all while Ichirin removes the stained bandages around the undefined one's head.

Nue stares at the spoon with disinterest, tears start flowing out her eye and recovering socket, then shouts "enough! I don't deserve this!", and slaps the spoon right out of Byakuren's hand.

"Nue," whispers the woman in shock. "What's the matter?"

The nun taps the black-haired girl gently on the head and says "apologize to lady Hijiri. Being sick is no excuse to be rude!"

"I went after him," barks the wounded girl before anyone says another word.

After a short pause the Youkhrist, who looks terrified at the thought, asks "Nue-chan! Why would you do that?"

"Because that bastard scared you away! And with you gone I thought-"

The cute nue can't help but start crying mid-sentence while saying "I thought I'd be kicked out of my home again! I wanted revenge, so I went looking for him!"

Byakuren scowls, growls inward, then coldly asks "was he the one that did this to you?"

Nue nods, the monk's face turns red, she smacks her own thighs as she stand up and grumbles "that boy! I got a good mind to let him know how much trouble he's caused! I am going t-"

She looks down after feeling a tug on her skirt and sees the cute teary-eyed Nue Houjuu looking up at her with fright, and when she has the monk's attention she cries "d-don't! He'll kill you, like he almost did to me! He absorbs magic from the body like some sort of sponge or something!"

She grabs the magician's dress with both hands as though begging the woman to sit down she slides those hands through the fabric while nervously saying "he-he's brutal! He doesn't care about our rules, he aims for death! B-but that siphoning of his has a limit! He-he lost an eye when he sucked too much from me! B-but don't! He will hurt you, and then it's going to be my fault, and-"

Nue is now in the warm embrace of the uncommonly kind saint and manages to relax while the motherly woman rubs her back, using her own magic to restore the youkai's wings while saying "it's alright, I'll stay. I'll stay here and make sure you recover. But please, don't think that just because I am gone that means you have to leave. You do so only if you want to."

"Nobody will kick you out of your home Nue. These people aren't like that," calmly says the woman while the youkai sniffles like a child.

"Just promise," softly says Byakuren while gently pulling herself and the nue from the embrace, "if there ever is a next time, stay here and be a good girl. Wait for my return."

She stares at the woman's angelic smile, her cheeks turn pink, her lips wriggle, then she lunges forward to give the saint a hug of her own while bawling "HIJIRIIIII! I'm sorryyyy! I'll never do that again!"

The Youkhrist smiles, returns the embrace with her own while rubbing the nue's head, and from behind them Ichirin nervously waves both hands in front of herself while mouthing the word "_not now._"

Just outside the door Unzan, Shou, Nazrin and Hatate hide their peeking heads behind the wall to look at the video recorded in the tengu's cell phone camera, plus the many pictures taken of Nue crying like a human child.

"That's so cute," whispers the tiger youkai with blushing cheeks that match that of the Nyuudo.

"Now remember," sternly whispers Nazrin, "if you want us to keep quiet about your collection of Rika's underwear photos, you will get us EACH three copies of these photos, and a copy of that video!"

The twin-tailed tengu girl growls inward before furiously whispering "I got it already! I'll, like, get you the stuff! Just give me a few days, ok?"

Shou sighs contently and whispers "Nue-chan and Byakuren-san, such a marvelous-**meep**!"

"Marvelous meep?", asks the youkai mouse while looking at the cloud, the tiger and the crow, and then she looks to her right and the angry smile on Lady Hijiri's face.

Outside the temple Orange ad Kyouko sweep the last bit of ground left to be cleaned while arguing about being, or not being lesbians, then from within the walls they hear "GYAAAAA~!" "NOOOOO~!" "HAYEEEEE~!", and jump into a mutual, frightened embrace.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Phredia, Budou, Agava, Kyo, Luna, Leon, Lina and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Ail's "Light Sign, Within the Jewel's Core" spell card was created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Special appearance by Lester Wilson

Written by

Willie G.R.

AUG 5 2011

* * *

**I took too damned long and doesn't seem I'll improve my speed. I can only hope I do. This time it was my lack of motivation (and the PS3). Seriously, it took me three weeks to recover enough motivation to actually continue with Icicle Sukima. Take notice that, although not liked by some, I am ALSO working on Undying Gensokyo, a horror fic. The reason I mention this is because while I write these two main fictions I won't be able to work on Spell Cards and Keyblades (the crossover for Kingdom Hearts and Touhou, for those who don't know), but rest assured I AM writing down notes for the chapters so as soon as I am done with either Icicle or Undying, I'll immediately work on the crossover.**

**Now then, I hope this chapter helped clear a few things that obviously confused a few people before. Though I DID mean to cause confusion, I also meant the events to be a good laugh, which worked. But now it's time to both laugh AND get serious. Seriously. Wish me luck for the next chapter, cuz the spirits know I'll need it. Also I hope you enjoyed the addition of the PC-98 girls Kana Anaberal, Mugetsu, her sister Gengetsu, and Orange. Their participation will remain minimal for the time being. I just wanted to get them into this Touhouverse of mine, and with that accomplished I shiver with anticipation of the EVILS I will cause them (or that THEY will cause to others).**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:**

**Waning, this is (somewhat accidentally) mostly a fanservice chapter. Those of you with weak constitutions may want to peek carefully at each letter and imagine the glorious sighs with safety-fog. You have been warned.**

* * *

That night at Gensokyo may seem peaceful for some, but to others it is an evening of nightmares.

The Nameless Hill appears to be one of those peaceful places; the wind gently caressing the poisonous flowers and making them dance playfully as they spread their poison amongst themselves, whooshing softly as it makes its way toward the rest of the land.

A white zigzagging beam appears like a flash above said flowers and is followed by the spray of blood further down it's directed path.

The flowers underneath that spray seem to have been showered by the thick substance already, yet nothing but a peaceful clear sky is visible over the field.

Inside the dark alternate world Ail and Mima fight as though their very lives depended on it, however the evil spirit remains untouched, while the dense boy has his left eye swollen shut and has several open wounds around his head, covering his face with his own blood.

"Come on boy, is that all you got? Really, and here I was hoping you'd give me good sport," taunts the cocky spirit before she twirls her staff in front of herself and prepares her next attack.

On the other side of their battlefield, the boy glares defiantly back at the spirit while thinking "_damn, I knew she was strong, but never like this! If this keeps up she's going to kill me! Gah, I can't even defend myself!_"

Mima snickers, points the crescent moon on her staff at her target, and from its tips, her own wingtips, her left hand and her eyes shower an unfair barrage of purple stars and red laser beams.

"Brightness, Overwhelming Heart," loudly and desperately declares the boy after summoning a spell card to his right hand, revealing several burns and fresh bleeding cuts on it.

Several rings and large orbs of light spread from Ail's heart and create a perfect defense against Mima's attack, or so it would seem.

The lasers and several stars break through the rings and orbs with ease and the dense but brave boy is bombarded from head to toe with piercing and burning bullets and lasers.

He falls head-first to the black background below, exhausted and almost drained of all his magic and blood, then his descent stops.

The evil spirit holds him inside a magical bubble and forces him to rise again while playfully saying "aww, you died again? No fun Ail. And I even stopped using the homing bullets."

"I'm not satisfied yet, so WAKE UP!", shouts the spirit, and after doing so she sends a load of energy at the boy that heals the wounds on his arms, legs and torso, heals his eye, and brings him back from the brink of death.

Again, the boy finds himself facing Mima and wonders how is he even alive, and as his hazy memory returns to him so does his rage.

"_AGAIN?_" furiously thinks Ail as he stares poisonous daggers at the spirit in front of him, and thinks"_What the HELL is wrong with me? Dammit, I have no choice!_"

He concentrates, the winged spirit grins and watches with vile glee, and soon his bracelet starts glowing.

Thin yellow beams form the symbol of a bearded frog above the boy's head, then fades away along with the glow from the bracelet.

His breathing breaks erratically when his silent prayer fails, then he asks himself "what the hell?"

"Shikieiki," explains the spirit "has asked the gods to not interfere with your learning progress until you truly understand what the problem here is, Ail."

She grips the air in front of her and now has the boy in a magical grip that's squeezing his neck, then says "too weak. This isn't Ail anymore. This is something else. The real Ail would have lasted much longer."

The dense boy chokes when he tries to speak and feels as his consciousness starts to fade again, then precious air finally flows into his lungs when Mima releases him, then says "yes, I can see it. This isn't just for what you did to Reimu. No, that was just the trigger."

Rage covers the entirety of the boy's senses, and with an echoing war cry he activates his Yozoragan limit, though looks different.

Instead of two ethereal dragon wings he gets only one, and the right one is a black sludge-like demon wing dripping poison from its tips.

His left eye is a black orb while his left looks like it should; a beautiful night sky with star sparking in the mantle of the night.

He summons a sword of light with seven blades around it, defiantly points at Mima and shouts "I've had ENOUGH of you! First you USE Budou to get to me, kill me to revive and then kill me again and again, and now you're speaking BULLSHIT! I am SICK of you!"

Mima grins, chuckles, then says to herself "oh, this will be fun."

The enraged boy snarls, tries to power up his weapon of light, but it ends up like a dim squiggly stick, yet not caring for this he glares defiantly at the woman and shouts "I'm no laughing, MI-MA!", then rushes straight at the spirit with said weapon held high.

Odd weapon and staff clash, sparks fly off their point of impact, yet the evil spirit remains grinning as she effortlessly pushes the boy back and sings "still not strong enough~"

Ail growls, his weapon vanishes as he stomps the air, then out of rage he summons another spell card and shouts "Darkness, Dance of the Black Lights! Die in dishonor!"

His wings become two solid black dragon wings, his eyes now have a full moon inside them, his skin turns slightly dark, and now a black flame hovers next to his chest.

The flame expands and turns into half-rings that slither, circle and dance around the enraged boy and send out thin beams that home in zigzags toward Mima while black petals rain down from the air above the boy toward mentioned spirit.

The green-haired beauty stays still and allows all those beams and bullets to hit, the beams piercing her skin and expanding within her and the bullets exploding without mercy on her head.

Ail smiles viciously, enjoying the sight of the hated spirit being torn to shreds and blasted to smithereens, but soon his smile turns to a frightened frown.

His spells cancels out on its own along with his deformed Yozoragan, and now he looks around in confusion and asks "wh-what the hell? Where am I? M-Mima? B-Budou?"

"You called?", asks the evil spirit after appearing out of nowhere and gripping the boy by his neck with all her strength, and as she chokes him magical blades travel under his skin and open cuts around his body at random.

She stares with satisfaction into his pained and horrorstruck eyes and says "well, you almost got me there, but you are just so WEAK. As long as you cannot find yourself, **and** end this conflict, you'll remain weak."

The black field vanishes, Mima returns to normal and smiles sweetly, then she throws Ail's damaged body away from the poisonous flowers next to the sleeping Budou, then sweetly says "and now I'm satisfied. Take her and go home, wash up, and remember what we talked about."

Confused and in pain, the boy stares at the spirit flying over him as she waves her hand so casually and friendly, and when he tries to speak he realizes he can't.

Noticing his dread the spirit sweetly says "ah, I guess I went a bit too far. No worries, you'll be alright by morning. Just take her and go home. Oh, and if I were you, I wouldn't use gaps while in that state."

He glances upward to her with sad puppy eyes, something he should have done from the start if he hadn't been so arrogant in his thoughts, and just like that the woman flinches and backs away, then says "t-too late for that! Just go home already! But be warned, you still have much to do to fix all of this... if it can be fixed. Anyway, ciao~!"

It is now the crack of dawn as the weakened and hurt boy picks up the little bat from the ground, staggers for a bit, and with a heavy heart he flies away.

His eyes hide under the shadow of his hair, which is a good thing for him.

He doesn't want anyone to see the look of confusion, depression and despair in them, though it's still no good.

Might be the pain mixing with his emotions, but he can't help but let a sob escape him as he thinks back to what Mima had said to him and the long losing battle he just fought for a reason he knows, but cannot fully understand.

* * *

At that moment, over at Makai, a girl with short blue hair adorned with a rose ribbon, light blue eyes, wearing a rose dress and matching boots, and sporting a pair of white angel wings furiously bangs on a door to a medium-sized house and shouts "dammit Yuki, it's been long enough! COME ON OUT and make my life a MESS! I'm BORED!"

"I'm not your clown, go away Mai," angrily answers the fire witch from the other side of the door.

The deceiving angelic-looking ice witch, Mai of Makai, bangs on the door and shouts back "Yuki, I'm seriously worried! What happened? Come on, talk to me! Please?"

Inside the house of Yuki of Makai one would expect to find messy heaps of junk lying around everywhere, but instead the wooden floors are neat and tidy, the kitchen and dining room are spotless, the bedroom looks cozy, clean and warm, the bathroom is spacious enough for her, and the living room, where the witch is right now, looks welcoming and friendly.

The hatless fire witch lies on her red couch with a frowning face and her eyes closed, pulling her skirt up and scratching her thighs, not caring that her white panties are perfectly visible through the windows.

From outside the house Mai calls "Yuki, please! Come on out and I promise to help you set Liuze's hat on fire, or make an ice skating rink for Sara so you can melt it while she does her jumps! Just please, come on out!"

Holding her fists against the door Mai waits for the witch's reply.

She gives up and removes herself form the door when she gets none, then from inside she hears "just go home and leave me along you annoying little twerp."

The ice witch gasps, her face turns red as she frowns, tears form under her eyes, she whimpers "she called me a-a t-twerp?", and as she sniffles those tears turn to ice cubes as they fall to the ground.

She opens her mouth to shout a barrage of well-earned insults at her sister, but she stops when that beautiful image of Shinki appears next to her, smiling ever so angelically while her ominous anger aura rises to the sky.

Seeing her mother as angry as that, Mai immediately stops crying and wisely takes several steps away from the house's door.

The Makaian goddess sweetly calls "Yukiii~", then magically forces the door open with a boom that surprisingly enough only opens the door without damaging it, and with several pulsating veins on her head she walks inside, grabs Yuki by her cheeks, then drags the struggling witch outside.

While she punishes her daughter she sweetly says "enough is enough sweetie. I know you're hurt, but you've been in here long enough. What's worst, you've become a rude little hermit and made your sister cry."

The fire witch blubs while trying to apologize, but having her cheeks stretched out so far apart makes the task difficult, and now she finds herself standing right in front of Mai, and promptly after her sore cheeks find relief.

Mama Shinki taps the girl's bare head and says "go ahead and apologize to your sister!"

Yuki sighs and slumps, bows her head and says "sorry Mai. I went too far there," then glares ominously at the floor beneath her feet and thinks "_I'll burn that butt of yours later._"

The cute ice witch scowls and says "fine, I accept your apology, but next time I'll freeze those thigty whiteys."

The fire witch gasps and opens her mouth with dread, but quickly relaxes and says "eh, I'm still hot, so-"

"Yuki, sweetie, why don't you go and accept that bird god's help?", asks Shinki, cutting her daughter off before she says or does something stupid again.

The girl chokes and looks at her mother's and sister's worried faces, then, regardless of how tough she may act and how strong she claims she is, her eyes fill with worry and fright, then she looks to the ground.

Her body starts convulsing and sobs escape her, but before either girl can say anything to her she cries "b-but I'm scared. I... want to get over this pink thing, but what if doing that changes who I am?"

Shinki and Mai look at each other with both concern and confusion, then turn their faces back to the fire witch and aim to comfort her, but stop when she continues "what if that god turns me into something else, like a snail, then I have to evolve through battles using my fire at low levels, eating pink foods to survive and shouting only my name over and over, and when I finally evolve I become something different and... roar, ROAR. ROA-"

"**YUKIIII!**", shouts her mother and sister at the same time, finally getting her out of her own mental world and turning her attention to them.

Shinki smiles, grabs her daughter and squeezes her against her chest while saying "my Yuki, you'll always be you, no matter what happens. Even now, as distraught as you are, you are still you."

"That's right, you crazy idiot," sighs Mai before patting her sister on the head, then adds "and if you want, I guess I can come with you."

The witch's face brightens up, a smile stretches from one ear to the other, then her mother adds "then I guess I will come too sweetie. Besides, I want to see how Rika is doing."

The blonde witch's smile becomes wider and brighter, she nods while smiling at her mother, pushes herself free from Shinki's grasp and hugs her sister shouting "YAY, thanks you guys," then pulls the ice witch along as she takes flight and shouts "I don't have to go alone anymore! Come, COME! I want to get cured now!"

"Wait, WAIT! My arm, you're going to break my ARM! KYAAH!"

Shinki chuckles while Mai screams and Yuki stares estranged at her sister, then sighs and says to herself "haa, finally, she's coming to. I really hope Suzaku can help her out."

She flies after her daughters, giggles, then says to herself "and I finally get to go and see Rika again. She was so sad last time I saw her."

And so they are off to Gensokyo, and though her daughter seems to be recovering, Shinki can still see a trace of doubt in her eyes and wonders how will things fare from here.

* * *

That morning, at the Hakurei shrine, a suspicious keystone lies lodged on the ground with smoke rising from beneath it while a thin figure walks away from it.

"Hellooo," nonchalantly calls Tenshi Hinanai as she approaches the open door into the shrine's empty living room.

She stops and scratches the side of her heat, tipping her hat slightly to the left as she asks herself "this is odd. Where could they be?"

"They're at the hot springs," says Suika from behind, startling the celestial into almost having a heart attack.

After panting for almost thirty seconds the blue-haired cutie furiously shouts "DON'T DO THAT," then notices the drunken oni is wearing a shrunk version of Reimu's clothes.

The tiny drunkard takes a big gulp from her gourd, stares back at the celestial, pats her cheeks, then says "and so you came. Good. Go around and say hi to the girls."

Tenshi points at the oni to ask about the get-up, but is picked up by the waist by Suika and scooted away toward the corner of the shrine while said oni says "I'm helping out around here. Now go, that girl's eager to see you."

The celestial regains her balance before falling to the ground, shoots an angry glance at Suika, then turns around and continues her way to the hot spring.

The very second that glorious water body is in sight the blue haired celestial's nose gushes a stream of blood upon the wondrous sight that greets her.

Inside the water are Reimu, wearing a white and red polka-dotted frilly bikini which makes her look a little childish, Cirno, wearing a cute ice-blue swimsuit with light-blue triangles adorning the waist, Hatate, wearing a black and purple checkered open-belly swimsuit that accents her curves, yes she's looking as dreadful as a human that lacks sleep, and Rika, wearing her sky-blue bikini with the random clouds and the three suspiciously placed flowers on the cups and bottom, suggesting a target, perhaps.

The ice fairy sits on the maid's right thigh and holds on to her exposed torso, for support she claims, while blushing a bit, and the tengu rests her weary head on Rika's left thigh while said maid gently scratches the side of her head.

Tenshi quickly composes herself, remembers she's mad at Rika, then nonchalantly says "er, um, ahem, hi, what's up?"

The sexy shrine maid gasps when she sees her friend and happily says "TENSHI! Tenshi, you came today! Oh, I'm sorry I can't get up. Hata-chan had an accident last night and I don't want her to move around too much."

Before the celestial can fake an uncaring response, Reimu, who's giving the girl a very naughty look says "well now don't be bashful. She still got room around her heart for you, little jealous celestial."

"Shut-up lustful maiden!", demands the celestial while pointing her finger at the maiden and fuming.

She flicks her hair to the side while straightening up and asks "a-and what's going on here? C-can I join?"

Her cheeks turn pink and she rapidly adds "um, I mean, I don't really want to join, b-but seeing as everyone is in there, I... I just don't want to ruin the mood. That's all."

Rika giggles, flaps her wings, then says "I made a swimsuit for you. It's in the bathroom. Please fold your clothes after changing and wash your body with the provided bucket of warm water before coming in."

Moments later Tenshi wears a pink swimsuit with multi-colored flowers on the bottom-right side of the suit, accenting her surprisingly well-shaped buns, and is sitting next to Rika, while Suzaku and Reimu watch them from the other side of the spring, chuckling and clucking while telepathically telling jokes to each other.

"So," casually begins the celestial while pointing at Hatate, "why is **she** so comfortable?"

The poor tengu groans, just barely opens her eyes to look at the jealous celestial, then moans "mmm, got beat up. Tired. Let me sleep," and resumes her blissful rest on the maid's soft and warm thigh.

Rika shrugs and giggles, but ignoring her the curved-hips celestial glares at Cirno and asks "and why is **she** so clingy?"

The ice fairy sticks out her tongue and barks "I can be wherever I wanna be!"

Tenshi pushes her face right in front of Cirno's in defiance and growls "not when you're invading my friend's SPACE you tiny icy shrimp!"

The fairy grins vilely while pushing her face against the peachy celestial's and growls "do you want me to freeze your tongue?"

Rika giggles out loud, effectively getting the girls' attention, then wraps her right arm around the blue-haired celestial's neck and happily says "I'm so glad Momoko came! I thought she was mad at me, but here she is! I love you guys!"

Celestial, fairy and sleeping tengu all blush while their heart thump loudly, and watching with amusement from the distance Marisa, wearing a bikini that's white to the right and black to the left, which helps her look cuter than she normally looks, chuckles and says "those girls are just hopeless."

Reimu and Suzaku, who now floats on the water, look at the ordinary witch, and simultaneously ask "**_where the heck did YOU come from?_**"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's basement, moans and wails curse the corridors that frightens even the three-tailed nekomata roaming in the shadows.

Inside a dungeon hidden beneath the coldest, darkest and deepest parts of the basement, Remilia sits in a comfortable red chair with a smug smile as she watches as Patchouli suffers through a cruel set of punishments though up by the vampire.

The magician's head and hands are trapped in a locked wooden stock that's low to the ground, and with her hind raised the fairy maids spank the poor semi-naked witch in lavender panties and black bra with a large wooden paddle, but she's so exhausted all she can do is moan.

Still smiling the vampire turns to her chief maid and says "now Sakuya, don't feel bad. It is not your fault this purple bean sprout sent a **welcomed guest** on a fool's errand to his death."

Frowning, the elegant maid bows to her mistress, while the poor magician moans "Sakuya~ how could you?"

The maid gulps and says "I'm sorry Lady Patchouli, but you know I have to inform my lady f all household occurrences that affect the status of the mansion. But be glad she hasn't used the plug, like when Meiling tore that human's head off with an accidental chop."

The mistress twitches and says "hey, she's the one that soiled the Scarlet Mansion's name with her carelessness, just like this witch here," then rubs her chin in thought and adds "actually, now that you mention it... BRING ME THE PLUG!"

Patchouli recovers her strength and shakes her head while crying out loud "no, anything but that, PLEASE! The wax was ENOUGH! PLEASE I'M SORRY REMI!"

The door behind Remilia burst open, but instead of the requested item, Leon, Aya and Flandre rush to the vampire mistress, her younger sister calling "wait, onee-sama that's enough!"

The ice boy kneels in front of the mistress, bows, then says "she's learned her lesson my lady! Please spare her further punishment!"

The Queen of the Night points an accusing finger at the tengu in her presence and asks "what is she doing here?", completely ignoring the begging boy and her pleading sister.

A large drop of sweat rolls down the back of Aya's head as she nervously says "ayayaya~ I happen to have some evidence in favor of that girl over there," then leans closer and whispers "can I take a few photos?"

Remilia lazily raises her hand to accept the weird contraption the tengu carries and allows said girl to take those photos with a wink from her right eye.

Excited, the black-haired tengu girl drops the digital camcorder on the little girl's hand and rushes over to Patchouli and takes several picture of her lavender panties and black brassiere.

The magician librarian, in her weakened state, takes a while to realize what's happening, then cries "ah, nooooo! Stop, stop! Remi, Flan, Leon! Stop her!"

Ignoring his love, the ice boy rushes to Remilia when said vampire snaps her finger and demands "show me how this works," and while he turns the device on for her and Flandre, on the background Aya and Sakuya are fighting in karate suits, flipping, punching, back-flipping, and tickling each other.

On the small screen of the camcorder, the young-looking mistress of the mansion can see how Patchouli jumps on the naked boy, begging for forgiveness and crying like a child on daycare.

Meanwhile, the tengu and the maid are having a gangster knife fight behind the librarian, and Sakuya being so skilled with a knife has the crow girl's feathers ruffled.

Remilia sighs, rubs her forehead, then says "alright, you guys win. Release her."

Meanwhile, the tengu and the maid hold each other in a friendly embrace and kiss each other on the cheeks.

Just like that the poor tortured librarian girl is released from the stock and falls on her back next to it, ignoring Aya and Sakuya shaking hands and making up in the background, acting like long-time buddies, though each hides a weapon behind themselves.

Patchouli breathes labored through her mouth before saying "thank you. so much. Hah, lemme. rest. a little bit."

Somehow, the vampire mistress doesn't seem satisfied, and Leon looks with desire toward the downed witch in un-matching underwear.

Noticing this Remilia grins and says "go ahead," then smiles vilely after the boy smiles brightly and eagerly jumps his love.

The magician screams "**MUKYUUUU~?** What the- NO~! HELP!", along with the ohing and ahing of the awed fairy maids, the scarlet sister smile and blush at the sight and sounds of kisses and sudden screamed moans, then Sakuya happily says "come on everyone, let's go have lunch now."

"NOOOO! WAIT PLEASE! SAVE-AHH~!" screams the poor librarian as she is ravaged by the ice boy, ignored by the happily chattering girls as they exit the room to enjoy a hearty meal.

Koakuma and Lina sit in Eirin's Clinic's waiting room's chairs with Leon sitting on the ground, balled up and looking at his knees with shame.

Inside one of the patient rooms, Eirin and Reisen stare down at the inexplicably dried up, yet still breathing body of Patchouli that's currently hard to describe lying on the stretcher, and with an annoyed face and while rubbing her forehead the Lunarian doctor says "this one will take a while."

* * *

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Yuki stares in disbelief at the girls soaking in the hot spring so leisurely.

By now, Hatate has recovered enough to be on her own, though does so reluctantly as Rika's thigh is something she so desires, and Reimu and Marisa somehow float on the shallow water.

Rika holds Cirno and plays with her as though playing with a young child while Tenshi sits beside her with a very annoyed look on her face, and Suzaku now perches above the water and just watches as the others have fun.

The fire witch sighs and asks "mom, do you think it's a good idea to bother them now? They seem to be busy. AUU?"

Looking to her right she notices her mother is wearing a beautiful and elegant red swimsuit with a very exposed left side, a slightly covered right, a perfectly tight fitted top and bottom, and a very elegant translucent light-blue sarong around her waist.

Noticing her daughter's surprise, the Makaian goddess giggles and says "don't be shy Yuki dear, come on in. Seriously sweetie, you've become so tight lately. Loosen up and be you."

With a sigh of defeat, the fire witch nods, then the shrine maid sweetly says "I'm sorry, I know you like two-piece swim-ware, but I couldn't synthesize one that wouldn't burn off with your fire magic. Hope you like what I did though."

Moments later the fire witch walks to the spring, wearing a two-colored swimsuit with black on the top and the snug bottom, showing off a surprisingly well-shaped volumes, and a skin-tight white center that has the witch quite content, evident on her smile.

She walks into the water, getting a few envious glares from the shrine maiden and her witch friend when they compare swimsuits, seeing as their bodies are somewhat equally matched.

After sitting between her mother and the celestial, Yuki looks up to Suzaku and thinks "_hey, um, lady bird? Can you hear me?_"

The vermilion bird tweets and replies "_ah child, your Lady Shinki told me already. I must warn you though, if you aren't ready for this then go home now._"

"_W-what? H-hey, I'm ready! That's why I came here today and I'm not leaving until I'm cured,_" bravely replies the witch in thought.

Suzaku ruffles her feathers and tweets again before replying "_good, good. I'm not one to take care of whiny cry-babies that run away at the first sight of PINK!_"

Yuki jumps to her feet and furiously shouts up at the bird "I'll show YOU, you mangy chicken! I'll take you on and BEAT YOUR GAME!"

Everyone except Shinki and Rika stare in shock at the shouting blonde, then the girl points at the red bird and says "she taunted me!"

"**Ooh~!**" exclaim the girls, understanding the sudden outburst out of nowhere, and then all but Shinki and Rika gasp and hide themselves underwater with shamed faces.

Mai walks toward the spring, wearing a simple skin-tight snow-white swimsuit with and ice-blue transparent sarong around her surprisingly curvy waist, and what really raises the jealousy amongst the girls is the surprising curvy and ample chest bouncing its way to Shinki's side and how the girl sits elegantly without a care in the world, casually flapping her wings and making herself jiggle nonchalantly.

She looks at Yuki's envious face, raises an eyebrow, then honestly confused she asks "what? What's the matter? Haven't you seen a swimsuit before?"

On the roof of the shrine, Parsee Mizuhashi grins mischievously while managing the jealousy the girls are emanating; that is until Suika finds her, grins vilely, chuckles quietly, and after the blonde turns around she sees a massive gourd rushing to her before everything turns black.

Back at the spring, having recovered from their envy, the girls mingle amongst themselves until Reimu notices an odd mist looming above her and Marisa, then sigh and says "and where have you been all this time, Mima?"

The evil spirit materializes above the girls, wearing a simple metallic-blue swimsuit, her cape, her hat, and a pair of sexy legs to match her already awesome set of breasts.

She smiles as she waves at the girls and casually says "oh, I was just working off some pent up rage."

The shrine maiden leers at the spirit and sinisterly whispers "something tells me whatever you did is going to really tick me off."

The sexy spirit chuckles, then casually replies "then it's best you don't know about it."

* * *

Meanwhile, Drake reaches Alice's home with that pink backpack hung neatly over his shoulder, however his mind is elsewhere.

He thinks and rethinks his encounter with the fairies and the two dark beings, wondering how can the fairies be evil, and the dark youkai be good.

"_The fairies set a dangerous, if not lethal trap for me. The shadow and darkness youkai saved me from that trap and helped me find what I needed. This doesn't make sense to me._"

He stops several feet away from the door and looks up at the sky, begging for an answer, and then he spots the wounded Ail carrying the bat youkai, flying slowly over the trees, and wonders "_he looks decent enough, and yet I see darkness. But he's not... ARGH, this makes no sense! Someone like HIM would first KILL the bat and loot, rape, maim the body, but he's carrying her like a BABY! I DON'T UNDERSTAND!_"

"Excuse me!"

Alice's voice brings the godling back from his web of thoughts.

She stands in front of him with her arms crossed and her blue eyes aimed at him with confusion, and along with her are the two tiny girls she calls her daughters whom hover above the girl's shoulder and join her in staring.

Drake blubbers for a moment after the shock, recovers, then exclaims "ah, Miss Alice. S-sorry, I was... thinking too much."

The puppeteer raises her left brow and arm and says "oh yes, I can clearly see that Mister Drake."

She straightens up, the little girls flutter to her shoulders and sit, then the blonde magician says "well, seeing as you are here I can assume you got the materials, correct?"

The boy straightens up and nods stiffly, then takes off the stuffed backpack and hands it over.

The moment that backpack switches hands the poor girl and her little daughters yelp and fall forward, unable to hold its weight.

Thankfully, the magician is quick and bends down to avoid the full fall, though Shanghai and Hourai aren't as lucky and end up falling to the ground on their little butts.

"Oww~! What was that? What happened?", asks the confused Hourai while looking around herself.

"Ugh, that's gonna hurt later," groans Shanghai while sitting and rubbing her behind, then she scowls at the godling and demands "hey, what the hell is in there? Rocks?"

Alice opens the bag and gasps when she sees it is full of those rare blue-spotted mushrooms, then exclaims "holy spirits, where did you GET these many? They're usually so-so rare?"

The boy bows his head with respect and replies "by some... er, kind of happy accident I came across a whole lot of these. I'm sorry, I should have warned you about them. They are quite heavy."

The girl quickly straightens up, ignoring the tiny girls as they rummage through the backpack, then quickly takes Drake's bandana from her pocket and says "now I feel I owe you one. Here, your bandana is ready."

Accepting the white garment, the boy shakes his hand in the air and says "no need my lady. You do not know the wonderful service you have done for me," then places the bandana around his head and it immediately takes the color violet.

Noticing the change the blonde magician asks "I see, why are you so confused, if I may ask?"

Drake stares into the girl's eyes and finds no ill intent in her question, so he asks "Miss Alice, may I ask you something?"

The puppeteer nods, then the boy continues "why are the fairies here evil, and why are the dem-I mean youkai good? Fairies are supposed to be the purest of beings while youkai... well, not."

She takes no offense from the question, yet feels a bit uncomfortable answering, but feeling her two girls sitting on her shoulders gives her courage, and so she answers "I'm afraid you are mistaken, sir."

The godling's bandana turns dark violet and his eyes show more confusion, then Alice continues "we are just free beings. Free to choose what we do without having to think of the consequences of our actions. Nobody here is necessarily good or evil. We are just doing what we must."

She pauses again to allow the boy to absorb that information, then continues "sometimes you may find youkai that, to you, may seem evil, and fairies that may seem good, but that's not necessarily it. That's why Reimu is here. She makes sure the incidents that occur because of our liberties don't hinder others or threatens Gensokyo."

The bandana takes a lighter tone of violet now, and the confusion in the boy's eyes seems to subside, and yet he doesn't seem convinced.

To him there's only good or evil and nothing more, but can't seem to separate one from the other either.

The puppeteer magician sighs, summons several dolls to pick the backpack and take it into the house, and as she walks back inside she says "I'm sorry, but that's all I can do for you. Mister Starstriker, good luck out there, and I hope your questions are answered soon."

The boy nods while thinking "_w-wait a minute. Then what have I been doing? Is this what Kasen warned me about? Argh, this is confusing, and yet..._"

His train of thought is halted when the translucent image of Eiki Shiki, the Yama of Paradise, appears before him on the sky, and as if bluntly ignoring her she turns his head away and starts walking away from the house.

He's angry, obvious by the fiery red color of his bandana.

He has caught the Yama's attention, and by the looks of things she's not going to let him go, so all he can do now is ignore her, walk away, and hope she'll eventually leave him be.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hakurei Shrine, what was supposed to be a relaxing morning at the hot spring has now become a hot spring party, when three unexpected guests arrived.

Toyohime, Yorihime and Mystia were supposed to deliver a tonic from Eirin and return to Eintei, but after Rika invited them to join in, and Suika handed over the sake, they put on the swimsuits provided by the maid and are now enjoying a surprisingly peaceful party.

Toyohime's swimsuit is a two-piece, with a metallic-purple top that hugs her chest in a manner that accents her womanly beauty twice over, and the v-shaped bottom that is metallic purple on the right and white to the left makes her look even more desirable, even to other girls.

One would suspect a laid back and lazy girl like her who doesn't train and eats so many peaches to have a few flaws here and there, but to her younger sister's annoyance her body is flawless. The bouncing causes annoyance amongst many of the girls.

Yorihime's elegant swimsuit is navy-blue with a v-shaped cut on top and a droplet cut on the belly, sparkling stars on the borders of the suit, including the cuts, and it's tight enough to show off the Lunarian's athletic body and average breasts.

"_Probably a perk from being married,_" thinks Reimu while she stares at the Watatsuki sisters' chests, to which Suzaku casually responds "_it could be_."

Mystia, who was reluctant of entering the hot waters until her favorite Lunarian did, wears a cute swimsuit with brown on top, white feathers around the abdomen, and those same feathers appear to flutter down and take over the entirety of the bottom.

Her wings feel more comfortable to her, and her tail feathers fit perfectly through the special cut, plus her suit reveals her supple breasts, though this doesn't seem to bother the sparrow much.

"Glad you liked it. Made it so your feathers stay a little drier," happily declares the shrine maid after noticing the night sparrow's content face.

Reimu approaches Rika, and while staring flatly at her maid she asks "say, how did you know who and how many people would come today?"

The maid giggles and replies "heheh, I think it's a very lucky guess. And if my guess is still lucky, our next two guests should arrive right about-"

"Heloooo~"

"Now," finishes the maid after that familiar call reaches the girls' ears, surprising the shrine maiden enough to make her mouth dry.

Ran Yakumo, the lovely and obedient shikigami, and her own shikigami, Chen, stand on the edge of the spring, staring at the partying girls with disinterest, though the little nekomata does seem a little nervous around all that water.

Ran has yellow eyes, bushy short blonde hair slightly covered by a white hat with amulets on it that also cover her fox ears, and wears a long white robe with indigo borders on the sleeves, and an long indigo panel on top.

She also has nine long bushy fox tails that, from looking at Chen's expression as she holds them, seem to be as soft as silk.

The kitsune bows her head respectfully, then says "Miss Reimu, we come on Master Yukari's stead with a request."

The shrine maiden can see the urgency in the vixen's eyes and asks "what is it this time? Did she break another hole in the barrier?"

A bead of sweat rolls down the blonde kitsune's head as she smiles sheepishly, then says "no, not that. It's Drake. Seems he's been causing trouble and she asked me to check if you have his sword."

She gets understandably irked by this sudden check-up on her, but Reimu sighs it off and says "fine, let me show you. And tell your master she better start doing her job and stop checking up on me like some little girl. That sword is safe here."

Both shikigamis get nervous after the maiden suddenly gets up with a glowering face, and Ran nervously says "he-hey, hey, don't shoot the messengers!"

"Come on," irritably says Reimu, "it's in my room."

Ran and Chen allow the maiden her space as she walks out of the water, but before they follow Rika sweetly says "Miss Ran, Miss Chen, if you want to join, I made a swimsuit for each of you. They are in the bathroom."

"Thanks, but Chen-"

Before the shikigami can continue the shrine maid happily says "I made Miss Chen's special so that she can keep her human form even in the water."

Clearly surprised and amazed Ran hums and says "um, well gee, there's nothing more we have to do, so..."

Chen finally breaks her silence and nervously begs "aww, please Ran-sama! I *gulp* I wanna try it! Th-the water. It looks... fun."

"Quit lagging behind! Come on!", shouts the maiden after reaching the shrine's corner.

The shikis quickly dash toward the maiden, trailing beads of sweat behind themselves as they do.

Inside the maiden's closet in her room is Drake's sword, leaning against the corner and glowing faintly with the bit of light that reaches it and emanating an odd aura.

"There, it's here. Happy?", barks the angry maiden at the shikigamis.

Ran nods and says "Lady Yukari has been made aware Miss Reimu. The sword is safe. The thing is, that god boy needlessly murdered two youkai rabbits, and recently my master learned he almost murdered the nue that lives in the temple, though it seems that girl attacked him first."

Reimu's irritation is surpassed by a surge of pure rage felt by the present girls, whom start shivering as the maiden, seemingly calm, turns around and asks "he... murdered them?"

Ran nods while keeping away from that girl's reach, and for good reasons.

The frills on the maiden's bikini start fluttering around when the girl's energy sways around her violently, yet sounding calmly she says "I will look for that boy and give him a beating he'll never forget. But today is for Rika, so that will wait until later."

Her energies settle after she calms down, then smiles at the cat and the fox and sweetly asks "so, will you be staying? It would make Rika happy."

The confused kitsune and nekomata exchange frightened and confused stares while deciding, and moments later find themselves enjoying the comforts of Hakurei hospitality inside the hot springs.

Chen wears a cute metallic-pink swimsuit with a round cut on her bellybutton, an adorable kitten picture of herself with glassy bulgy eyes and fluffy ears knitted on the chest, and the swimsuit not only allows her to play in the water without turning into a cat, it also accents her already adorable looks, plus her tails feel perfectly comfortable and not cramped like other swimsuits.

Ran wears a very elegant white swimsuit with horizontal indigo waves on the ample breasts, the majority of the torso is bare, making an U-shape cut over the indigo bottom, and her nine tails fit so perfectly it's like the suit was designed purely for her by an expert.

Rika cups her hands on her own ample chest and sweetly exclaims "I'm so glad you liked them. And thank you so much for staying!"

The kitsune sighs with delight while keeping her eyes on her shikigami and says "no, no, the pleasure is ALL mine Miss Rika. Oh, and thank you so much for these. Poor Chen always wanted to try swimming at least once, but her weakness to water impeded that."

Mentioned nekomata is easily swimming around the water along with Cirno, then happily says "the water is so much fun Ran-sama!"

The vixen breathes steam through her mouth and blushes while staring at her nekomata, but before any of the girls present can comment on that, there is a shriek coming from the side of the spring.

Tenshi, who has Hatate in a headlock and is pulling her bottom from the back up, looks up and furiously demands "what the heck is that?"

The tengu uses the distraction and applies an atomic wedgie, showing the celestial's peaches to all, then releases her and furiously adjusts her own swimsuit as she grumbles "stupid celestial! That really hurt you annoying pest!"

Tenshi groans and moans while sucking in her own cheeks with the pain and Rika immediately rushes to her, calling "Momoko! Here', let me help you!"

The saint-like maid adjusts the celestial's swimsuit, releasing her from the up-riding fabric punishment, then gives her blue-haired friend a light hug and says "there, there, all better now."

Regardless of how mad she is, Tenshi blushes, smiles and takes the blissful hug for all it's worth.

Outside the spring, Yuki has somehow been hogtied by Suzaku, and said bird perches on the witch's tied hands and feet while placing a pink ribbon on the girl's head.

The fire witch tries to hop around on her own stomach while screaming "HYAAAAAAAAA! Get it off, GET IT OFF!"

The vermilion bird, through general telepathy so all can hear says "_nope. Be strong child and don't let the pink dominate you! YOU ARE STRONGER!_"

"I WANT MY MOM~!" cries the girl with despair after giving up on hopping away, all while Hatate chuckles mischievously along Marisa and starts taking photos of the desperate Makaian.

Shinki, of course, slams a fist on each girl, then shoots a dirty glare at Mai, who is also taking photos on her own camera while giggling mischievously and flapping her wings contently.

* * *

It's midday when Ail finally reaches his home with Budou still sleeping on his hands, though her stomach is rumbling, and this makes him want to hurry to the door.

The blood from his wounds have dried but he is still tired and feeling weak, even with him using his energy manipulation to send needed amounts of energy to specific points in his body.

But it's all burning up fast and even walking is a terrible chore, but he's so close, he doesn't want to fall now.

His vision blurs, his mind becomes hazy, dizziness takes over, but even so he reaches that door and gasps "I... I did it!"

He opens the door to the holy sanctuary that is his home, and upon gazing within those walls, all his ailments subside and are replaced by unholy amounts of shock and despair.

The walls are pink and white, the ceiling is adorned with flowers and frills, the windows have white curtains, the cushions on his couch and seats have been dyed red, there is a red and golden rug on the entrance, and on it is Ayalina, staring at him with surprise with her hand reaching for the knob.

"Ail! Sweetie I was starting to get worried! Where have you been?" exclaims the sexy mother after hugging her son, crushing the spirit right out of his mouth.

She pushes the spirit back inside her son's mouth, promptly reviving him and happily asking "so, how do you like the house, son?"

The dense boy revives with a jump, breaking away from his young mother's embrace, and desperately says "the walls! The ceiling! The windows! What have you DONE?"

The girl smiles sweetly, tilts her head slightly left, then says "isn't is wonderful? Oh, and I arranged Budou's room so you can sleep there, and me and little Budou will sleep in YOUR room."

"BUDOU!", exclaims the boy as he hurries to the pink and white kitchen with the frilly table, searches through the refrigerator, takes out a bowl of fruits, then places Budou on the chair, the bowl on the table, then places a grape next to the girl's lips.

"Ail, what happened to her?", asks Ayalina as she watches the little bat suddenly come to life and bite the grape along with her papa's finger.

The finger is fine, but it still stings him.

While his little bat youkai daughter wolfs down the food, the boy turns to his mother and sighs "it's a long story."

And finally, after getting a very good look of her son, she screams "HAYAAAA! AIL, YOUR HEAD!"

Before the boy can even speak, the young-looking mother grabs him by the arm and takes him to the bathroom, plucks his clothes save his underwear and gives him a speedy bath, chips off the dried blood, cleans his head, pulls him out of the cold water, dresses him up, bandages his head, arms and legs, then sits him on the dinner table and demands "young man, what were YOU DOING?"

It takes a while for the boy to realize that he's been bathed and his wounds have been treated, then he notices his mother staring sternly at him and is impatiently tapping her foot on the ground, and that has never been a good sign for him.

He sighs, resigning to his fate, then looks away while saying "I got into a fight and lost. End of story."

A powerful burning tug curses his exposed right ear while his mother furiously exclaims "why would you do that? Now you are HURT!"

"OW OW OW OW, MOM! That hurts!", cries the boy in hopes that his mother will let him go, and although she does she still has that face that exclaims her wanting of an explanation.

Ail sighs again as the pain on his ear subsides, then says "someone took Budou and forced me to look for her. She ambushed me and forced me to fight, and although I did lose, I still got Budou back."

The bat youkai next to him on the table sobs and cries "I'm sorry papa. I won't do it again, I swear."

The dense one reaches for the girl's head and scratches the back of it, making her wings shiver, and says "it's alright sweetheart. The important thing is that you are safe."

Noticing Ayalina has calmed down, the foolish boy stands up, dusts his thighs and says "well, now that you are back, let's go to see Sanae. I promised her we'd go to the shrine as soon as we got back."

"Oh no you are NOT!", exclaims the young-looking hot mother.

"Whoa there, mom, I already prom-ARGH! W-WAIT, MOM!"

Ail's speech is cut short when his mother grasps him by the back of his shirt and drags him against his will to his new room, slams the door shut, then shouts "you are **not** getting out of that room until you are rested and healed, you understand what I'm saying?"

"But it's so white and pink in here! Seriously, Yuki would die of a heart attack!" shouts the boy from the other side of the door.

"No buts young man," barks Ayalina, "you are staying **in** there until you are better, and afterward we are going to see the doctor! Can't have my baby running around with diseases because of some foolishness!"

"But what about Sanaeeee~!", whines the boy from inside.

"She won't mind you're a little late, especially when your health is at stake. Now get to sleeping or I'm coming in there and **making **you sleep!", demands the young-looking woman.

Ail groans, but Ayalina still smiles when she hears her son's body hitting that bed, then she hums contently as she walks to the kitchen, leans on the table and scratches Budou's head, then says "alright sweetie, let's make some lunch for you and your naughty father."

Not wanting to share in the punishment, the little bat raises her right hand and exclaims "HAI!", and hops off the table, carries the empty fruit bowl to the sink, then salutes her commanding officer and waits for further instructions.

* * *

Meanwhile, Luna Rivers and Medicine Melancholy with Su-San on her shoulders stand in front of the open gates of the Myouren's main temple while looking back to the temple's grounds.

Luna sighs disapprovingly while face-palming and says "he just can't leave her alone."

"He'll eventually get what's coming to him," replies Medicine with a smartass smirk.

"Well, as long as he doesn't make her cry I see no problem with some human youkai interaction," says the peaceful temple monk, Byakuren, while cupping her hands together under her waist.

Nearing the exit of the temple grounds, from the surrounding area, acting like a shark, Kyo stalks poor Kyouko, whom regardless of being aware of her stalker continues her diligent cleaning duties.

A few feet away from the yamabiko is Orange, complaining "...and why do I have to clean? Oh that's right, to EAT! But they already have yuri-girl over there. They want us to MATE, I just know it! Just you wait and...", all while sweeping the very same spot over and over while glaring towards the wall.

They boy has moved behind the echo-girl, takes a long deep breath, and shouts "**that woman made me a man!**", and the poor youkai girl drops her broom, instinctively cups her hands around her mouth, aims herself toward the temple, and shouts "**that woman made me a maaaan!**"

The shockwave from the echo crashes against the orange-themed youkai girl and smacks her hard against the wall.

"RARGH!", roars the poor yamabiko girl while running after Kyo, throwing her fists and shouting "you stupid, fat, bubble-head idiot of a human man!"

The spiky-haired boy grins and while running backwards he shouts "**she's got nice curves I love!**"

Kyouko immediately stops chasing him, turns around and shouts "**she's got nice curves I loooove!**", then blushes tomato-red and pulls her dress up to hide her face.

Orange struggles to get back up, stretches her back while rubbing the lower section, then the shockwave of the second echo smacks her on the face and sends her spiraling in the air and falling on the ground without mercy.

She manages to stand up again, this time aiming a furious red face toward Kyo and Kyouko, then stomps her way over to them.

Meanwhile the boy smiles at the teal-haired girl while tears of rage cling on to her eyes and her blushing red cheeks turns even redder with anger, then he says "I'm ready for the next one if you are."

"You two idiots stop the crap before I REALLY get mad!", shouts the orange girl as she gets closer to the group, then the yamabiko cups her hands, aims herself at the orange one, and takes a deep breath.

"**NOT AT ME YOU IDIOT!**", shouts the girl, then rushes to the teal-haired yamabiko, turns her towards the boy and says "there. NOW let lose"

"**stopthecrapbeforeIgetmad! NOT AT ME YOU IDIOOOOOT!**"

Kyouko's fast and furious scream sends an overpowered shockwave straight at the boy and sends him flying several yards away from the temple grounds, and while his body falls in the distance the two youkai girls turn to each other and high-five with a loud cheer.

Before long Kyo is already upon them with windy shield and fiery sword ready and demands "you and your girlfriend against me! Loser pays for three meals!"

The youkai girls throw their fists down besides their waists and shout "**I'm not a lesbian!**", point at each other and shout "**she's not my girlfriend!**", then each take a fighting stance and confidently say "**you're on!**"

Flashes, zaps, explosions and several screams overtake the skies above the Myouren Temple.

Acting as if nothing was happening while still watching the fight from the main temple's safety, Luna turns to the sweet monk and asks "Lady Hijiri, first know we are overjoyed you have returned, but we're kinda of in a hurry so... Byakuren, Shou, have any of you seen Drake recently, like today maybe?"

The mentioning of that name bring obvious discomfort to both girls.

"That boy again. What did he do now?", asks the Bishamonten disciple, doing her best to keep her low tone as casual as possible.

Medicine sighs, takes the lead from Luna and sighs "he overstepped his boundaries, and now we are to find him and bring him down."

"What. did he. do?" asks the Youkhrist in a dangerously low tone.

Both visitors twitch at the sight of such a peaceful woman loosing herself to raging fury, and after taking a deep breath the silver-haired girl says "he murdered two youkai rabbits."

The half-filled cup of tea on Byakuren's hands shatter to pieces after said woman applies a dangerous amount of pressure to it.

"That boy," she whispers, "is like an unstoppable demon that eats all in its path."

She stands up and demands "take me with you!"

Confused looks fall on the saint-like monk, and growing frustrated she calmly says "please, he made me lose sight of myself, but worst than that, he almost killed Nue-chan."

Surprised gazes greet her once again, though this time only from the two visitors, so the gestures them to follow.

The door to Nue's room opens and inside Nazrin and Ichirin are changing the nue youkai's bandages for fresh ones.

Said girl looks at the guests, her left eye looks like a tiny orange marble, and though her magic has recovered, she still has ways to go, obvious by the look of the now pale snake lying to her right.

The girls gasp at the sight, but before any of them can comment Byakuren sighs and says "although she attacked him first, he chased after her and tried to kill after he had already won."

The mouse youkai and her nun friend raise an eyebrow while staring at the guests, then Nazrin says "oi, you're not thinking of fighting that freaky god, right?"

Ichirin face palms and adds "seriously, we here at Gensokyo have lost the sense of self-preservation."

Luna and Medicine wave dumbstruck at the girls inside, and after Nue waves back, Byakuren closes the door and says "that man can suck magic out of the life-force, thus making him a perfect youkai killer. Now you understand why I must join you. With me, you can all survive."

"Not a chance."

They all turn to face the main temple entrance, where Kyo holds both Kyouko and Orange by the back of their shirts' collars.

His appearance reveals he got hit by bullets more than his fare share of several times, but the two semi-conscious girls on his hand look even worst, with burn marks, sizzling spots on the face and all over their skins, tears on their clothes, and unlike Kyo, their eyes spin around in a daze.

He sits the girls on the nearest bench and looks at both Byakuren and Shou while saying "you have a duty. You have to protect the youkai in this shrine. We have ours, and that's why we're here, because this might be one of **his** targets."

"But what you are doing is suicide! Don't be foolish and let me help you!" shouts the Youkhrist as she storms out of the hall and stops in front of the boy.

Kyo smiles confidently, places his hand on the carrot necklace Tewi gave him, then says "understand that we already know what we're up against, and we will not let our guard down for a second. Besides..."

He glances over to Medicine and Su-San, grins, then says "we have a secret weapon. A weakness of his that we will take advantage of."

"But-"

Before Byakuren can argue some more Luna places a hand on the woman's shoulder, and with a smile on her face she adds "if you leave now and he happens to attack this place you'll feel even worse because you didn't protect the youkai. Letting us go on with our own plans. Don't you worry Byakuren-san. We won't allow him the chance to harm us," then she ponder and adds "too badly."

A bead of sweat rolls down her head as she says that last bit, yet her eyes remain confident.

The monk looks around her temple and notices the worried faces on Nue, Shou, on Nazrin and Ichirin, then sighs in defeat and nods while saying "fine. I'll remain here."

The visiting trio regroup, then Kyo waves at the girls and says "excellent. If he does happen to come here before we find him, please let us know as soon as you can."

"You take care out there," sternly replies the gradient-haired beauty, then she looks at Kyouko and adds "and don't worry. If we see him you'll know."

One last bow and a farewell wave of the hand, and the foolishly brave trio head out of the temple to resume their search for Drake Starstriker, and with the knowledge gifted to them by Hijiri, they rethink they strategies for a safer assault along the way.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere beneath the Youkai Forest is the Kappa-Pa resort, where Nitori, Minamitsu and Julia are currently inspecting the racing boat rides.

It is taking an great load of effort for the captain to refrain from sinking said boats, but she's holding out ok so far.

She is also doing her very best to suppress her urge of pouncing that kappa, plucking her clothes off and gazing at that swimsuit before eating her, though this particular effort is taking its toll on her.

"Are you... alright Miss Murasa?", suspiciously asks the diligent computer hologram after noticing the captain sweating as though she's run a marathon.

Said captain smiles as naturally as she can at Julia and says "oh yeah, I'm fine... I'm-"

"Ah, no wonder. The lower gear is a little rusted," says the friendly kappa as she bends down to deal with a faulty gear on the boat.

Her skirt lifts up just enough to give good 'ol Captain Murasa a peek at that blue swimsuit underneath those light-blue clothes, clinging on that pale skin and perfectly shaped legs, and she hiccups and covers her nose and mouth to hide the blood trickling down her nostrils.

The computer hologram stares at the youkai ship ghost and suspiciously asks "are you **sure** you're alright?"

The captain's eyes bulge as she desperately attempts to cover herself up, but seeing as she can't form words she just nods rapidly.

"Ah, Miss Minamitsu, Julia, please stay here and make sure nobody uses this boat," commands the cute kappa as she stands back up while exploring the cracked gear on her hands, "I'll need to change this one. It's broken."

She hurries along with her little trinket while Murasa and Julia stare at her, then quickly disappears behind the ornamental mounds.

The captain takes her anchor on hand, the computer hologram takes a fighting stance, and as she stares at the ship ghost through her glasses she says "you will not soil my dear Nitori with your filthy desires! Leave now or I'll be inclined to kick you out by force."

Minamitsu smiles confidently, waves her fingers inviting the first attack, and says "I'm making that kappa my own, and there's nothing you can do about it."

The hologram grins, her eyes spark with electricity, and she bends her knees as she prepares to attack.

The ship ghost summons her ladle to her right hand and swings it, creating a ridiculously thick shower of water-droplet bullets, and while the woman in red carefully sways her body to avoid those the opportunist captain rushes the woman with her anchor.

"You're DEAD!", shouts the ghost youkai as her anchor reaches the woman's head.

What a terrible mistake that one was.

The second that metal hook touches the hologram's head a thousand volts of pure electric power courses through it and shocks the girl, but it doesn't stop there as the many droplets released by the ship ghost are also charged with electricity and the poor girl screams as her neon-glowing bones become bare through her skin.

Everything stops, her bones stop glowing, her burned skin sizzles, bolts of electricity spark through her frizzled hair, and staring at Julia in shock she coughs black smoke, then exclaims "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?"

The smartass hologram grins, leers at the captain and says "water conducts electricity as well as metal. Face it, you are out of you league. Now I'll ask you again, leave now or I will KICK you out."

Murasa's unfocused eyes trail around Julia's frame, and as she struggles to keep on her feet and her vision starts to blur, she manages to slur "n-no. Not gonna- cuz I. No."

Julia chuckles, knowing she's already won and only needs to finish the girl off, so she resumes her fighting stance with fisted hands and walks toward her target.

Meanwhile the poor captain staggers to keep on her feet, and suddenly her vision drifts to some magical place, where Nitori stands looking back at her and suddenly turns around, bends over, grabs her skirt, and says "Mini-chan, please don't give up on me. Otherwise you'll never get this."

She lifts her skirt up and shows her navy-blue swimsuit perfectly fitted on her cute body, her pale thighs perfectly shaped up by the cut of the fabric, and her cute butt so gloriously displayed in the stretchy threads.

Captain Minamitsu MOTH**** Murasa suddenly rises up with a powerful aquamarine aura surrounding her youkai body as she screams the excess energy off, surprising Julia and stopping her advance.

She points at Julia with her left hand and shouts "you holographic BITCH! Now way I'm going to give up on Nitori!"

She summons her anchor and her ladle, an aquamarine-glowing spell card appears on her hand, and she shouts "that silky pale skin, that cute face, and that GLORIOUS swimsuit WILL BE MINE! AHAHAHAHA!"

The computer hologram glares, her eyes glow neon green, then she calmly replies "oh shut up and attack already so I can send you home on a stretcher!"

"Grrr! Harbor Sign, Eternally Anchored Ghost Ship!" shouts Minamitsu to activate her spell.

Julia stares nonchalantly, sighs as though nothing's happening, even though she's got eight anchors, several water bullets and hundreds of droplet bullets headed her way, then she calmly raises her hand and says "Hand Sign, Bitchslap of Doom!"

The hologram flies through the storm with ease, as though no bullet or anchor was aimed at her, reaches Minamitsu with red-glowing hand, the captain screams, the hologram in red screams, and a blinding flash illuminates the resort.

At the Myouren Temple, Byakuren wears a black swimsuit with cross-laced red straps on the front, showing off her curvacious body, round buns, cute belly button and her glorious bouncy breasts, and holds her white tower on her right arm while looking around the entrance of the temple.

She turns around, showing the world outside the temple her perfectly-shaped butt tightly wrapped on the stretchy fabric, sighs, then calls "Shou, I'm going to the pool for a bit. Cold you look for Orange and tell her dinner is almost ready?"

From within the temple's rooms the tiger youkai replies "will do lady Hijiri. Please enjoy your swim."

A burnt hand grabs the Youkhrist's leg, and the poor unsuspecting and beautiful woman yelps loudly and jumps high, bouncing her goodies after landing and turning around, then shouts "MINI-CHAN!"

Captain Minamitsu Murasa lies on the ground, dragging herself like a ground worm with arms.

Her entire body is completely burned, her shirt has been completely destroyed save for the collar, the left side of her pants flop up to her waist, her navy blue bra and panty set is visible to the world, her athletic body exposed almost perfectly, and on her right cheek she has a red hand printed to perfection.

Shou rushes into the room with her spear on hand and demanding "what's going on? Hijiri are you alright?", then she lays her eyes on the captain and exclaims "TIGER-PRINT-LEGGINGS! Murasa, what happened to you?"

The unsettled monk slowly approaches the burned ship ghost, touches the back of her head, then sighs with relief says "she's alright. She's just tired."

Captain Murasa raises her head, coughs a black smoke cloud, then says "this isn't over computer b-bitch! That swimsuit-kappa will be," and as she lets herself go she sighs "miiiineeeee~"

Byakuren straightens up, sighs irritably, her chest bounces, then Shou's nose blows a holy load of blood to the floored captain and whispers "glory be this miracle!"

The Youkhrist raises an eyebrow while glancing right at the Bishamonten disciple, scratches her head, then says "um, be a dear and help me take her to the pool with me. I'll clean her off while I bathe myself."

The enraged and jealous tiger slams the stick of her spear on the ship-ghost's back several times over, shouting "you. evil. lucky. bitch! That. should be. ME!"

"WAIT! Shou, wait, you're hurting her!" pleas the beautiful woman while trying to pull the tiger away from the ghost, all while the frame of Parsee Mizuhashi grins and flicks her ears by the door, until a massive rusty silver washtub falls from the ceiling and slams on her head with a powerful clang.

Orange peeks her head from the roof and nervously shouts "sorry~! Heheh, it slipped. Is everyone al-", and then she lays eyes on the glorious monk, stammers, falls off the roof, but instead of the hard and cold ground she feels a soft and warm surface.

She has fallen on Byakuren's almost exposed chest, and the monk is scratching her head while cooing "silly youkai, you could have hurt yourself. Be more careful."

Back at the Kappa-Pa resort, Nitori asks Julia "what happened to miss Minamitsu?"

The sly computer hologram smiles, then says "she went back home to freshen up. Said she'll be back tomorrow."

For some inexplicable reason, Kyouko's voice penetrates the underground walls as she screams "**It's the PERVERTED LESBIAAAAAN!**"

Even Julia is shocked and surprised by the sudden epic scream, but before she or Nitori can recover Orange's voice echoes "**I'M NOT A LESBIAAAAAN!**"

* * *

Meanwhile, on their way to the Forest of Magic, Kyo, Luna and Medicine knock out Rumia, Agava, Sunny, Star and Luna, stopping their silly war game before they hurt the foolish teen-aged human spectators that refuse to leave, even with the obvious dangers.

The muscled boy looks to his left and says "Luna, make sure they don't move an inch!"

The blonde fairy moans and says "hey, stop making fun of me."

The silver-haired girl behind the three sitting fairies sighs and says "he was talking to me, sweetie."

Luna looks back at Luna and asks "your name is Luna too?"

The sexy girl nods and says "so you are Luna also. Oh, this is going to be interesting."

The little fairy's lips take a downward V shape with a rounded lip, then she says "I am Luna Child, so please don't confuse us."

The silver-haired cutie smiles and says "and I am Luna Rivers. Pleased to meet you. Now sit straight or I'm knocking your head."

Medicine, who pins Rumia to the ground, face-palms and shakes her head, then asks "seriously, of so many names how come these two have to share the same one?"

The blonde youkai of darkness smiles and slurs "I don no~", weakened by the doll youkai's poison.

"Enough about the names," shouts Kyo while facing Agava with his sword aimed at her throat, then asks "alright, why the hell were you having a stupid war with stupid humans present? You could have killed them!"

The humans complain, but nobody really cares about what the male villagers have to say.

The shadow youkai sighs with a groan, showing great frustration, then she looks straight at the boy and says "we were just having some fun. We weren't going to kill nobody!"

"Yeah," shouts Sunny, "we were just showing off our spell cards for fun!"

"Besides, these two dark girls owe us!", barks Star, who points at Rumia and angrily says "we almost got that boy good and you went and told on us!"

The darkness youkai giggles, looks around Medicine's head, maybe staring at Su-San, and says "aww but yous, um, were trying to kill hims on zat holes."

"Who," quickly asks human Luna, to which fairy Luna replies "a really stupid boy with really strange energy that made us all dizzy."

"Yeah! He went all _wow_ on us when we told him we were Fairies of Light," quickly adds the black-haired fairy.

"That's right. Calling us _friends_ and such. What a weirdo," rapidly adds Sunny.

The silver-haired girl, the muscular boy and the poisonous doll immediately regroup in the middle of the mess, ignoring their prisoners, then huddle and whisper among each other.

The now-free girls raise their curious heads to try and listen to what their captors are saying, then the trio turn around and Kyo asks "this boy? Was he wearing brown clothes, had spiky brown hair and such?"

The fairies and the dark youkai nod rapidly, then human Luna demands "tell us where he went and will leave you alone so you can continue shooting each other!"

The five girls point simultaneously toward the Myouren Temple, then Kyo roars "shit, he's going after the temple again!

"Probably thinks he can finish the place off without Byakuren to guard it!", quickly adds Medicine.

"Stop talking and get moving," exclaims human Luna, and as she and her two partners take flight, she calls back "thanks for the help girls."

"Don't hurt the people, or we'll come after YOU next," rapidly adds the boy before turning into a speck in the distance.

"Finally," groans Agava as she throws her arms beside herself, then says "alright girls! SHOWTIME!"

They human males cheer from the sides as the girls flips their clothes off and throw them to the wind, and now a catwalk with a pool on the end appears on top the grass.

On it walks Luna Child, waving timidly at the crowd, wearing a tight and adorable metallic-ivory swimsuit with a low and open back, and has sparkling thin white straps, adding a new level of cuteness to her already natural cute looks.

Behind her, Sunny Milk, cheering and waving energetically at the men, wears a vibrant white bikini with a red bow clipped between the flat cups, red rings around the thighs of her bottom, and it does a great job of accenting her already vibrant cuteness.

Behind the blonde fairies is Star Sapphire, waving naturally at the boys, wearing a blue swimsuit with stars scattered around the left side of her chest and right side of the suit's bottom, and has diamond-shaped cuts on the sides.

After them comes Rumia, wearing a tight turtleneck black swimsuit with cute red bows on the chest and the side of her thighs, and for some reason she looks hungry at the crowd while waving.

Last is Agava, wearing a heart-stopping triangle-cup metallic purple bikini with a v-shaped metallic black bottom, showing off her already enhanced bouncing breasts, amazingly-toned body, and powerful-looking legs.

Just glancing at the crowd literally knocks them all down on their own pools of nose blood, and with a satisfied grin on her face she says "alright girls, it's SHOWTIME!"

The five girls join hands, make a circle as they fly up, then start shooting beautiful bullet formations to make their own fireworks display above the small pool at the end of the catwalk.

In the end, it's all in good fun.

* * *

That afternoon, the still-bandaged Ail opens a gap from his new room to the Moriya Shrine from which he and Budou jump out of and hurriedly step away from it as it closes.

"Phew, we made it," sighs the boy as he gives the bat youkai a light hug.

He realizes the little girl is as stiff as a board, so he releases her, kneels down to try and look at her in the face, then smiles and says "it's alright Budou. I'm not angry at you. What happened was Mima's fault, not yours."

The little girl's entire body shivers, sobs escape her, then she turns around, hugs the boy and cries out loud "but I made papa worry, and hurt people, broke their houses, made papa pay it all! I'm a bad girl!"

Ail can only sigh and return the hug while repeating "it's ok, it's alright," then places his hand on her head and combs her hair down to her back to calm her down.

Even amongst her sobs and wails the boy hears a couple of footsteps, looks up with a bit of a sad smile and says "Miss Kanako, Lady Suwako."

The goddesses nod in acknowledgement, then the blue-haired goddess bends her knees and says "aww, the poor thing. Ail, you shouldn't have scolded her."

The boy's face shows his displeasure and disapproval, but before he can say it, kero-chan smacks the hot-bodied woman on the head and growls "not the right time Kanako. Read the damned mood!"

Still comforting Budou, the boy nods in silence, to which the little goddess flips him a thumbs up, and a hard impact greets the back of the boy's head.

He remains kneeled, he stops moving and his eyes hide under his hair, and from behind him Sanae furiously demands "and where the HELL have you been? You PROMISED you'd come here as SOON as you got Budou back! HEY! Are you listening to me?"

"Papa?", worriedly asks the little sobbing youkai as she tries to look into the boy's eyes.

"Hey Ail, aren't you going to say something to me? Like an apology or something?", angrily demands the green-haired girlfriend.

"Um, Sanae..."

Suwako's hesitant speech estranges the wind priestess, then said goddess points at the boy and the resumed-crying bat girl.

Ail's bandages stain with a bit of blood, and finally noticing his state the crazy maiden jumps on her knees in front of her boyfriend, grabs her little daughter, and desperately pokes the boy on the shoulders while shouting "hey! Ail-kun, wake up! Um... oh my."

His eyes spin in place, he moans as he tries to reply but the spinning world is making is hard to tell whether he's standing still or flying, so no words can come out.

"Auuu! Kanako-sama, do something!", pleas the maiden as the little bat clings on to her to cry.

The goddesses shrug and shake their heads, Budou cries out loud, Sanae panics, now four voices speak simultaneously, and the confused and dazed boy now finds himself happy to be fading out of consciousness to escape the madness, and just like that everything turns black.

Unsure of how long it's been, Ail moans as he feels his consciousness return.

He feels warm, relaxed, someone is combing his head very gently, he can feel movement around his head and shoulders, he can hear a heartbeat, then softly asks "Sanae?" as though knowing where he is.

"It's alright, I'm here. S-sorry about hitting you so hard," hesitantly replies the girl after gently pressing her lips on his bandaged forehead.

He opens his eyes and immediately smiles at the sight of Sanae looking down at him while his head rests on her lap, and even with that precious mound greeting him also, he can't take his eyes off of hers.

Their faces turn slightly pink, then the boy says "I'm sorry I'm late Sanae-chan", at the same time as the maiden says "I was so worried about Ail-kun."

She passes her finger around his fresh bandages and softly says "what happened? It's not like you to break important promises."

The dense boy sighs, points an accusing finger at Kanako and Suwako without looking at them, then says "if Budou wants to stay, let her. I think it's best if she understands what happened to her too, but if she starts crying, please take her outside."

And so he begins telling the tale of his battle with Mima, about how he is miraculously alive after taking so many overpowered spells in that dark world, about that magical circle Reimu used on Sanae and its dangers, about the spirit's request to keep away from the red and white maiden, and finally the reason why he couldn't get to them sooner.

Suwako chortles while covering her mouth, then says "weak. A pink house. I'm giving that woman a high-five when I see her."

The green-haired maiden gives her frog-motif goddess a very dirty look, then turns to her boy and asks "so you think we should listen to that evil spirit and keep away from Reimu? I'm still going to kill that spirit for doing this to you and Budou though."

The dense one sighs, looks to the sleeping fruit bat, then says "forget about attacking Mima. She'd kill you. The only reason I'm alive is because she allowed me to do so. Besides, she's asked **me** to keep away from Reimu. Th-that doesn't mean you're gonna go there and cause trouble either."

Kanako holds the sleeping Budou on her lap and gently combs her hair, and while doing so she looks at Sanae and sighs "if you did that he'd die from worry. Sanae, please refrain from fighting that woman."

The blue and white maiden sighs in defeat and replies "fine, I'll stay here and look after Ail-kun," then she looks away and thinks "_but I'm still giving Reimu a payback for that nasty spell._"

Ail starts feeling dizzy again and fails to notice that wicked look on his girlfriend's face, and while slowly closing his eyes he smiles and says "good. I can relax then. If *yawn* Budou wakes up before I do, please give her some... some food. She... recovering."

With that the dense boy falls into a blissful sleep on his girlfriend's lap, and said girl giggles and scratches his head, looking quite happy about it.

The goddesses look at each other, grin mischievously, then immediately frown and whimper when they look at their smiling shrine maiden as she holds her gohei while looking ominously menacing.

Kanako and Suwako both stammer, then promptly bow and the god of war and winds says "sorry. We'll stop thinking that."

* * *

Meanwhile, Drake Starstriker paces around the road that leads straight to the Myouren Temple, holding his hands behind his back while saying to himself "alright, here's what you'll do."

He stops walking, places his hands in front of himself, gestures a straight path and says "you go in there, do NOT attack anyone, don't assume anything, apologize to Byakuren and the changing girl... and, erm."

He imagines himself running to the gates while avoiding a shower of magic bullets, present himself to Byakuren by force, bow to her and her knocked companions, beg for forgiveness, apologize to the nue youkai, then get out of there.

He shakes his head to wake up from the daydream, looks toward his goal, says to himself "alright, let's go," then looks to his right after noticing two dark auras in the area.

Kali and Kimi rush out of the shadows, looking fierce and just about ready to attack, yet the godling looks calmly at them and hesitantly asks "um, hello. Er, wh-what seems to be the matter?"

The shadow dragon's right eye glows crimson, her left eye looks like the white flame around the pupil is engulfing the whole eye and her face looks feral, and sounding dangerously furious she shouts "it's the bastard! That ENERGY! He must DIE!"

The shadow girl's white hair waves around like wildfire, her eyes glow scarlet, and she holds her head as though in pain as she shouts "it's him! KILL the gods!", and without provocation they both launch straight at the godling in a crazed rage.

"What the HECK?", shouts the confused boy, now unsure as to why he's being attacked, but regardless he takes a fighting stance, raises his right hand above his head, clutching a magical ball of divine water, then throws it straight at the two shadow girls.

They scream when that water ball gets close and they somehow manage to split and escape the spell, but even so they feel some sort of damage from the attack and fall on their faces to the ground.

While they recover Drake looks up to the darkening sky and shouts "you see that Enma! They attacked FIRST! I'm just DEFENDING MYSELF!"

He now finds himself being tackled to the ground by Kimi, and wile on top of him she opens her mouth bearing her drooling jagged teeth while roaring "m-must kill! The pain! YOU CAUSE SO MUCH **PAIN!**"

She lowers her neck to take a bite out of the boy's own neck, but the warrior frees his left hand and punches her on the face so hard she's sent flying five feet back.

He hops on his feet and quickly flip-kicks to his left, landing a viciously powerful kick on Kali's face and sending her flying against a lone tree.

Meanwhile, from her courtroom Shikieiki watches the battle unfold through a floating glowing orb, then groans and says "and he was just about to repent! Argh! Of all the times for fate to intervene!"

Komachi looks worried and confused to her boss, but before she can ask the Yama speaks loudly through the orb "Drake Starstriker! Stop the fight immediately!"

From the battlefield the boy shouts back "I CAN'T! They are fast and refuse to leave me be!"

The Yama of Paradise groans and loudly says "but if you keep fighting you'll set a chain of events that WILL pull towards YOUR undoing! Find a way to run and GET OUT OF THERE! And we STILL have to talk you and I!"

Back at the battlefield Drake shoots large fireballs at the shadows and shouts "Oh SURE! Like it's so easy! What ARE these creatures any-**WHOA!**"

From an unseen point in the sky Eiki's voice loudly asks "Drake, it's turned pitch black! What's going on?"

"**SHADOW DRAGON!**" shouts the boy in that warring tone of voice that lets the Yama know the Wheel of Fate has started spinning against her hopes once more.

Kimi has changed to her colossal dark snake dragon form, and the brave godling, instead of running away stands his ground, preparing a powerful spell of pure light that will surely kill the two shadows in front of him the moment he shoots it, but it's taking its time to charge.

before he can even think of unleashing the killer shot, Kimi roars so loud to the sky the rumbling that comes after it is felt all the way to the Hakurei shrine.

Drake loses his balance and falls to the ground, and before he is able to stand the massive shadow dragon takes flight.

This shouldn't hinder him in the least, however Kali, who keeps blubbering nonsense, jumps on top of him and punches him on the face while he's defenseless.

The shadow dragon roars once more, swoops down, then grabs the godling the second he blasts Kali away from him with a starlight shot to the face, and now the dragon flies away toward the Misty Lake with her pray.

Meanwhile, Kyo, Luna and Medicine help the rushing youkai and few humans as they prepare for Drake's arrival tot he temple.

The edgy Byakuren stands in the middle of the temple grounds and looking at the road where she can feel the godling's presence, thinking "_I can't believe this. Again. It's just like before. Some hero wants to kill the youkai, just because they are youkai._"

Shou and Kyo walk over to the monk to tell her to get inside, but before either can speak all three gasp at the sight at the end of the road.

They see Kimi's massive dragon form taking an amazing space, and the Youkhrist only has time to shout "GET DOWN!", before the shadow dragon's powerful roar rocks the entire temple hard, knocking everyone to the ground.

After recovering from the shock of the roar and managing to stand up on her knees, Byakuren looks up and watches Kimi fly away, and senses how the godling's own energies seem to rush away along with the dragon.

"What the HECK was THAT?", shouts the muscle-shirt boy.

Shou punches the back of his head and grumbles "watch your language young man! And I'd love to know what's going on myself. Miss Hijiri?"

The pretty monk stands up, holding her hands together over her chest as though in prayer, then loudly says "everyone, the emergency has been averted. Drake Starstriker is currently chasing that dragon, I believe."

Everyone at the shrine stare at their beautiful leader silently, and remain so for some time until Orange shouts "OH YEAH! He turned tail! WE WIN!"

Cheers and applauds fill the temple, but as the sun goes down so does Byakuren's face.

The only ones noticing this are Kyo and Shou, since everybody else seem to be too busy cheering over their default victory, then the tiger youkai asks "L-Lad Hijiri, what's the matter?"

The Youkhrist turns around, looks at them with saddened eyes, yet smiles as she says "you know, there was something different about him. I think... I think we just made a mistake."

Even Kyo can't deny the feeling of unease these words are making him feel, and so these three remain silent and glum while the rest of the temple remains bright with cheers and happy faces.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the sky over the Misty Lake, Kimi roars repeatedly as Drake burns her claws with one holy blast after another, hoping to either break free from her grip, or break through her massive fingers.

He stops the attack, his eyes open wide, and now all his attention lies on top of the tower of one Scarlet Devil Mansion.

On top of the clock tower, the mistress of the mansion, Remilia Scarlet, keeps her eyes locked on the godling, and he keeps his eyes on her as though knowing they are watching each other.

Drake chortles, his eyes open wider, making him look as though mad, then he smiles and says "impossible. A devil. A devil's mansion in this WORLD?"

The vampire mistress moves so fast it looks like she's teleported to the balcony under the clock tower, and again moves so fast it seems she's teleported inside the safety of her walls.

The godling laughs manically and shouts "so I've been lied to AGAIN! This is a land of DEMONS! That mansion is PROOF! I have to purge this land! I HAVE TO SAVE THIS PLANET!"

From the unseen orb in the sky Shikieiki shouts "Drake, don't you dare disturb the balance! You are to be a GOD, not a mere human 'hero'!"

Her words fall on deaf ears.

The boy in brown intensifies his attacks and manages to break Kimi's hard scales with one of his holy orbs.

The dragon shrieks and throws the boy away, and as soon as she recovers from the sting of his attack she lunges forward to finish him off with one bite.

The godling recovers and takes flight, lunging straight at the dragon's open mouth.

He's a second away from becoming food for the shadow being, she snaps her jaws as viciously as she can, then roars in pain when instead of flesh in her mouth, she gets powerful holy orbs on her chin and on the soft spot just under her neck.

One last holy blast on her stomach forces her to turn back to human form and hold her abdomen.

Drake points at her and shouts "when I'm done with you I'm purging that mansion from the evil within! But first, I am going to make sure your death is slow and painful you vile being of the darkness!"

The shadow girl holds her stomach, chokes as though about to vomit, then almost crying she shouts "s-stop that energy! It hurts so much! STOP IT!"

Drake raises his right hand and a light in the shape of his sword appears on it, but the shadow dragon youkai cuts his concentration and cancels his summon.

Even though in human form she grabs his arm and bites it hard.

The boy screams and immediately throws an arched punch from above and strikes Kimi hard on the head, making a cracking sound on impact.

She remains frozen in the air, staring at nothing and chocking on her own throat, seemingly unaware that her prey is free.

Before she is able to recover, the vicious godling sinks a knee on her abdomen strong enough to blur even her vision upon impact, then he holds her by the neck, squeezes tight, then whispers "go to hell you vile creature of the dark."

He throws her towards the mansion, lifts his left arm, aims his open palm at the shadow girl, then fires a continuous stream of holy energy that forces a deathly scream out of Kimi's system, then stops when he is sure she will die impaled in the sharp column of the gate.

He bends his body as he attempts to give chase and infiltrate the mansion as well, but Shikieiki appears before him and without speaking a word she swings her golden Rod of Remorse and strikes him on the head so hard he is sent flying far to the east.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Meiling looks up at the powerful beam of light headed her way and screams "WHOA! We're under attack! Fairy platoon, front and cent-," but cuts her command short when the beam stops and she spots Kimi falling toward the column.

She jumps fast and hard toward her shadow self, grabs her in mid-air, then slowly descends while looking at the damage done to her rival.

Her clothes are torn and burned, her skin is badly burned in several spots, her face contorts with pain, tears escape the strong woman's eyes, and for a moment it seems she's going to sob.

The gate guard sets the woman on the ground as gently as she can and dumbfounded she asks "wow. Who... could have done this to her?"

The blue-haired fairy maid behind the gate guard curiously asks "Miss Meiling, what should we do?", and points at the several fairies behind her.

The Chinese-themed girl in green sighs and shakes her head, then says "please, someone get Sakuya. We'll need her advice on this-"

"That's won't be needed," interrupts Remilia, who stands on the very tip of the column where Kimi was about to be impaled with.

She drops to the ground and gracefully lands in front of the guard and the fallen dragon, then smiles and says "on second thought, do go and get Sakuya on the double."

She stares viciously at the shadow dragon before her, grins so wide her fangs become bare and glow with the bit of light coming from the crown of the moon, then chuckles softly, as though laughing at a joke remembered from long before.

* * *

The next morning, at the Moriya shrine, a fully healed Ail stretches out in front of the living room's door and contently says "man, I feel like new now. That Sanae-chan is so wonderful."

"Pst! Psst! Hey!"

Suwako's edgy whispers quickly take the boy's attention, and when he looks outside he spots the froggy goddess hiding behind a tree, gesturing him to get closer.

He obediently walks over to his favorite goddess and whispers "what's wrong Lady Moriya? Why are you whispering?"

The goddess unleashes her most vile and vicious grin and whispers "hey boy, you want to see Sanae in her tightest bikini yet?"

Ail is already hiding along the blonde girl and whispers "you had me at 'hey'. Let's go."

Suwako smiles, though feels it was all too easy, however she just signals the boy to follow her and they silently slither their way to the lake behind the shrine.

They reach the nearest bushes to the shore of the lake where Kanako keeps looking toward the water and blushing, and the answer to that come quickly.

Sanae lies near the edge of the water on a towel, wearing a triangle-shaped rose bikini with a low triangle-shaped bottom.

That gorgeous godlike body of hers shimmers with the light of the morning sun as she bathes on its lucky glow that can touch her skin so brazenly.

The girl moans then turns around to reveal the back of the bottom is also triangle-shaped, and once again the peepers curse the sunrays for having the glorious privilege of caressing that perfect skin, those strong thighs, those soft calves, that smooth back, and those perfectly round buns.

Ail drops on his butt taking big gasps of air, then desperately whispers "it's more glorious than I **imagined!**"

Suwako clenches her right fist so tight she cuts her own skin with her nails and happily says "damn that girl is gorgeous! How I'd love to jump on her right now!", then points at the dense boy and adds "you lucky bastard you. That girl could have given **ME** a run for my money when I was in my prime!"

Kanako growls and whispers "she can give **ME** a run for my money as I am now. Now shot up, I want to look some more!"

The dense one gulps and says "true. One's not enough!"

The perverted goddesses nod and the blonde cutie says "we should totally attack her while she's relaxed! Just LOOK AT HER! She's completely defenseless!"

Ail is already peeping though the bushes again when he asks "hey, where did she go?"

Suwako turns around and exclaims "what? NO! Maybe she's gone back inside!"

The air-headed goddess of war scratches her head and asks "what for? She should be THERE!"

The questionably dense boy replies with a stern face "no, I don't think she's inside. Her towel is still there. Don't give up hope!"

"Enjoying the show?", asks the sweet and dangerously aggravated voice of the gorgeously hot green-haired shrine maiden.

She's covered herself up with a white bath robe and wears a pair of white bath slippers, ending the trio's peep show.

She taps the left slipper impatiently, crosses her arms under her chest, glares ominously at the peeping perverts, then sinisterly whispers "what should I do with you, I wonder? Boiling oil? Knives on the butt? Or perhaps...?"

She uncrosses her arms and reveals a large wooden bat and shouts "**or perhaps a GOOD OLD FASHIONED BEATING!**"

Moments later Sanae continues her sunbathing while Ail hangs from his feet behind one of the sacred logs, full of bumps and bruises from the beating.

He sobs and asks "c-come on Sanae-chan. I only did it because I love you."

The maiden happily sings "sorry~ Lame excuses can't be heard at this moment~"

Suwako, or some dried sticks that resemble arms and legs, speaks normally while saying "aww, come on Sanae, give him a break. He's just a healthy young man."

The maiden smiles, though sounds dangerously aggravated when she says "devils that tempt mortals must **NOT** speak, or they will be punished by divine paddles!"

Kanako has been planted face-first into the ground all the way down to her waist and is unable to pull up her skirt or her fundoshi, exposing her rather marvelous-looking legs, thighs and buns though her thong to the world.

She tries to speak, but only muffles reach the ears of the maiden, who happily replies "don't worry. Budou is playing with Phredia and won't be coming out until lunchtime. Now enjoy the sun on those pale legs Kanako-sama."

There's another muffle from the wind goddess, then Sanae replies "what is this sun-block you speak of? Oh, you mean more sun-tan oil! Right away!"

The goddess scream as the scorching summer sun punishes her exposed legs, and now dreads as she waits for her shrine maiden to smear her with more oil and burn her to a crisp as well.

And so begins another day in the Moriya Shrine, where they remain blissfully unaware of the happenings at the Myouren Temple and the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Luna Rivers, Budou, Kali, Kimi, Leon, Lina, Luna, Ayalina and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Ail's - "Brightness, Overwhelming Heart" and "Darkness, Dance of the Black Lights" spell cards were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Aug 25 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**MAN! What a GLORIOUS fanservice chapter! I LOVE doing this. Coming up with swimsuits or sexy outfits for the girls, having men (or perverted goddesses) pay dearly for their brazen peeking, it's all in good fun. However I want to say, the fight between Drake and Kimi pumped me up more than Ail vs Mima. Well, that first battle was too one-sided, so maybe that's it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed.**

**And know that I WOULD have posted this chapter a lot sooner, but Hurricane Irene came through PR and I was left without power for three days and... well at least I am well and I'm back. Ah well, until next time.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Warning, heavy language ahead. Seriously, it's there this time.**

* * *

That morning in Gensokyo, at the eastern mountains of the Misty Lake, Drake wakes up, moaning while rubbing the blood-stained bump on his head and trying to focus his eyes.

After a stray thought finally crosses his mind he groggily asks himself "where the hell am I?"

His vision slowly solidifies, his weary limbs recover strength, and after taking a deep breath the boy gets on his feet and looks around.

He stands on bare soil, where only a few patches of grass accompany the rocky terrain, and the sky above him feels like the top of a lake.

"I... where am I? Where have I been sent to now?", asks the godling to nobody in particular as he looks around himself.

He tries to think back to the day before, but everything is blank, even the name of Gensokyo, and yet he remains calm as he thinks "_don't worry Drake, this has happened before. Just give it a few hours, you'll remember everything. Just find a place to rest and-_"

And he finally turns around and faces the dark mansion of Mugenkan and gasps with surprise.

"_A. mansion?_", he thinks as he vaguely remembers those challenging scarlet eyes from a demonic figure.

His eyes intensify as the glowers at the architecture in front of him and stands, then says to himself "I remember something. A demon, on a mansion's roof."

He takes wobbly steps toward the door as his body slowly recovers itself, yet he keeps from falling as he says "th-that's right. I think I was sent to find and kill a demon. Yes, that's probably the reason for my being here."

As this thought crosses him he thinks a memory will pop out of it, but his mind remains blank and he stops.

"But, there's no memory of that," mutters the boy while holding his chin in thought.

He shrugs, walks straight into the mansion, and says to himself "well, might as well explore this place," and as he closes the door behind himself he calls "excuse me! The door was open so I let myself in."

Meanwhile, in a world of endless black and white, eternally spinning clockwise at a peaceful rhythm, Shikieiki Yamaxanadu sits in meditation, patiently waiting in the endless silence.

She opens her eyes and stands up, looks upward, then politely says "Great Beings of the Universe, your humble servant awaits your instructions."

A disembodied man's voice, calm, paused and patient, softly says "dispense of the formalities my dear child. This is an informal meeting."

The Yama of Paradise opens her eyes wide, as though having being insulted by a hired professional, and says "er, pardon me, but that does not seem proper."

The voice chuckles softly, the world around the girl becomes a beautiful grassy field with a clear sky and a tall tree in the middle that sways along a peaceful breeze, then the kind voice says "please, sit. I just need to ask a favor of you."

Eiki manages to calm herself down, and as instructed, sits down with the large tree comfortably resting her back, then she looks up at an orb of light on the sky and asks "and what might this favor be, my Lord?"

The disembodied man chuckles again and softly asks "are we not friends?"

The Enma smiles lightly, then sighs and says "my apologies, my friend."

There is a short pause while the girl keeps staring up at the light, then the voice calmly begins "as you are aware, the god-in-training, Drake Starstriker, has entered Gensokyo, a land with beings I know **you** love."

The girl gets nervous, but the voice calmly says "love is not a force to be punished my friend, so do not worry."

"Now, about Drake," continues the voice, sending a soothing warm breeze through the field, "I will ask you to please not interfere with his developments again."

"But he's doing terrible things," quickly replies the green-haired girl, "he's making all the wrong choices, he has murdered youkai needlessly and was to upset the balance! I had to interject or the shadow would have consumed his mind."

A warm feeling emanates from the ball of light as the voice softly says "and our highest praise go to you my dear friend. You have done an excellent service in preventing an irreversible catastrophe, but now the lesson is to be learned, though slowly, and if you interfere again it might be taken as a direct offense to the fates."

There is a short pause while Eiki absorbs what she's just been told, then the kind voice continues "thanks to you, that shadow will keep holding the balance, and learn a few things while along the way, but now it is up to Drake and his choices to whether retake the path he has lost, or fall back into the circle of life, devoid of all memories of his prior ventures, and rather long life as a god in training."

Another long pause takes the peaceful room while the Yama absorbs what she's been told.

The confusion in her eyes lifts and her lips stretch into a smile, then the voice chuckles and says "and now that you understand this, I will allow you to watch over those you hold dear, as they have much to learn from you as you have much to learn from them as well."

A sudden impact of confusion hits Shikieiki, but before she is able to ask the voice gets a little louder as the room disappears and she is sent back to her courtroom, and as she feels as though she's twirling in the air the man says "oh, and please tell that Anilan boy to stop trying to be whom he is not. He's causing quite the calamity amongst his friends up here."

"Eiki-sama? Eiki-sama! Please, don't let it be so! Don't send her consciousness to limbo~!", cries Komachi as she shakes the stiff body of her boss.

The Enma slowly blinks, the shinigami cheers and hugs the green-haired girl, and after a knock on the head with the Rod of Remorse and a cute "kyan~!", the Yama of Paradise breaths hard through her mouth and whispers "so Ail... is not fully at fault?"

Komachi rubs her head while grunting "that's my Eiki alright," then smiles at her boss and asks "what was that? Did Ail do another _Anilan_ again?"

The green-haired girl stares lost at her pink-haired subordinate, then truthfully answers "I, um, I'm not sure."

Confused faces remain locked on each other for some time before Komachi stretches her hands behind her head and sighs.

* * *

Inside Mugenkan, the godling flies around the surprisingly spacious corridors, admiring the architecture, even though it's so dark.

As he admires his surroundings he comments to himself "red carpeting, oak columns, arched ceiling, dream realm residue. A perfect home for evil spirits. I should purge this place."

He reaches the large steps to the second floor after a surprisingly long, but admittedly slow flight, prepares a water spell on his right hand, then confidently smiles as he says to himself "housecleaning service deluxe begins right-" but his awful one-liner is cut short when he hears a whisper.

He remains silent while waiting to hear that whisper again, and is surprised when he hears a playful giggle instead, coming from a large doorway to the left of the stairs up.

He walks off the stairs and heads straight toward the doorway, the playful giggling and whispering become louder and more continuous, and now he feels two presences nearby and switches the water spell for a holy -light orb.

At the end of the surprisingly well-lit corridor, passing through a pair of wooden dual doors with the words "Swimming Pool" recently written in blue on them, is, of course, Yuka's swimming pool.

The pool is rather large and surprisingly deep, and playing inside of it are Elly and Nitori's Grandfather, splashing each other with water on the face, swimming away from one another, and enjoying every moment of it.

The blonde girl wears her wine-colored one-piece, which for some reason now imprints certain features of her body almost too well, particularly her belly-button.

The old, but well-toned and muscular kappa with awesome pectorals, large biceps, epic legs, and an awesome long white beard, wears a pair of wine-colored swim trunks, obviously wanting to match with his girlfriend's swimwear.

"Got'cha!", exclaims the blonde after splashing her kappa man on the face.

The old kappa chuckles, smirks, and with the wave of his wrists he sends a wave after Elly that forces her to ride it to the edge, however the water makes an U-turn just before getting too close to the end of the pool and sends the girl laughing straight at the kappa's strong and buff arms.

After a good laugh and a few kisses the couple swim to the side-edge of the pool and pull themselves out, then he admires how the glistening water trails through her silky-soft skin, while she admires how her man's perfectly toned pectorals shimmer when wet.

They lean toward each other and lock lips for a passionate kiss, but the face the kappa man makes estranges the blonde, then she turns around to glower at Drake, who brazenly stands by the door and has just ruined what could have been a great kissing session.

Nitori's Grandfather gets on his feet, and clearly annoyed at the intruder he irritably says "hey little man, can't you see we're in the middle of something here?"

The godling raises his hand and throws the holy spell at the old kappa without hesitation and Elly appears before her boyfriend with her scythe on hand and bats the orb back at the boy, who simply absorbs it back into his hand.

"You're trespassing in Lady Yukarin's mansion of Mugenkan! Leave now or die where you stand!", demands the woman.

The buff kappa taps her elbow and whispers "sweetie, let me help," to which she swiftly whispers back "don't worry darling, I won't let him touch you."

The boy unleashes his energy and Elly drops due to the sudden surge of unsettling power, but to her luck her kappa man catches her and flies away from the boy, angrily muttering "another human-turned-god. I hate these idiots!"

Drake follows after the couple and shoots a merciless barrage of bullets at them, aiming specifically at the blonde on the buff kappa's arms.

A bullet gets close to the kappa, but he turns around, flexes that right bicep and deflects the attack, then shouts "you don't know who you're messing with sonny! Get out now while you still move on your own!"

The god-in-training doesn't listen and tackles the strong kappa with his own shoulder, crying in pain after crashing against that muscle mass, yet succeeding in knocking both targets into the swimming pool.

Her rubs his left arm, places his dislocated shoulder back in its place, then prepares a lightning attack meant to cook the couple in the water.

Elly jumps from behind the boy and cuts his spell with her scythe, getting slightly shocked in the process and missing his head by an inch.

The quiet boy flies a few feet away from her before showering her with another barrage of holy orbs, which she bats or slices with the blade of her weapon.

Drake growls inward, hides his left hand and prepares a scarlet dagger while he prepares a holy-water spell on his right and points it straight at the girl's head.

The youkai gasps and throws her weapon at the boy, forcing him to cancel his water spell and move while the boomerang scythe makes its way away from and back to its owner's arm.

He doesn't notice the shower of very small bullets she's unleashed and is hammered by the surprisingly powerful shots she keeps shooting from her left hand, even after catching her spinning scythe in mid-air.

Drake glowers at his target, prepares a holy knife spell on his right hand, and as soon as the woman throws her scythe again, the godling rushes at her.

Elly gasps and moves to avoid the right hand, positioning herself close to the boy's left, and is stabbed on the stomach with the scarlet dagger.

The blonde girl screams as scarlet bolts course inside and outside her whole body, weakening her until she's unable to fly, and weakened but fully conscious, the girl's fall echoes an awful thump that makes even Drake grimace.

But he won't show any sympathy for her and slowly flies to the girl to finish the job, preparing another holy knife and looking at the beautiful youkai girl like she's a mere pile of garbage.

She tries to moan when he grips her neck, but all she manages is to choke, and watches with horror as that insufferable boy raises the holy weapon.

Drake's eyes bulge, his weapon disappears, then he falls to the left of the girl like a pile of lifeless bones and closes those eyes, his bandanna turning grey afterwards.

Behind him, Nitori's Grandfather stands with his left knee bent, his large right hand floating horizontally flat at the same height of the godling's head with an awesome red glow, but what impresses Elly the most is the intense red glow on her man's eyes and the calm, yet powerful aura dancing around his toned muscular body, shaded to look fiercer than usual by the faint light entering through the windows to the right of the pool.

He straightens up, combs his beard with his left hand, and looking more like his usual self he gently picks the blonde gatekeeper like a princess and softly asks "are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

Elly is lost in her own blissful world after seeing that awesome kappa she loves so much acting so cool and epic just for her, and absent of mind she nods and lays her head on the kappa's shoulder.

The old kappa kicks the unconscious boy on the ribs and asks "and what should we do with this piece of garbage?"

The blonde girls raises her head, smiles sweetly, then manages to say "take his shirikodama and kick him out," with a raspy voice.

Nitori's grandfather grins vilely, clicks his tongue, then says "shame gods don't have those!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu is followed by Rika to the front of the shrine grounds, where the maiden stops and turns around to address her maid.

"No, you need to stay here. Besides, you have guests. You can't leave them alone in the shrine," argues the red and white girl.

The adorable maid flaps her wings as she lets out a whimper, then says "but my lady, what if that boy tries to kill you? Please, at least take Suzaku with you!"

Reimu points at the lake of the shrine while smiling sheepishly and says "that bird is very busy right now," then the familiar voice of Yuki echoes all around as she cries "please, not there, PLEASE~!"

The girls cover their ears to avoid the full blast from the inevitable shrieking scream, and after peace settles and they uncover their ears again, the sweet maid sighs and says "alright, I understand my lady. And I better do something about those too. Poor sis."

The red and white maiden surprises her maid when she places a hand on her head and happily says "that's my girl. Now stay here and be good."

She takes off to the sky and as she waves back she shouts "if I'm not back by dinner go wake Suika up and get Marisa."

Rika pouts adorably when her mistress doesn't mention **her** in the rescue plan, but sighs it off and weakly waves back while sighing "fine, fine. My lady knows what's best."

Up in the sky, Reimu sighs to herself as she looks forward and says "well, that's one thing off the list. Now to find that bastard. I just hope it's not too late when I find him."

As she distances herself from the comfort of her shrine she mutters under her breath "killing youkai... needless... stupid gods. Can't hunt for Ail!"

Back at the shrine, Rika is already picking her broom from the closet inside the house to begin her daily chores.

She turns around to head straight outside, and hops and yelps with surprise when she sees Tenshi staring angrily from up-close.

The scowling celestial angrily asks "what, you think I'm gonna pick on you?", while tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.

"Momoko! Y-you scared me," exclaims the surprised shrine maid.

Tenshi catches herself doing something she will definitely regret, so the covers her face with her hand, breathes several times and mentally counts to ten, then sighs and relaxes herself.

She opens her eyes, stares straight after her friend and says "I'm sorry about that, I'm just a little edgy. L-look, I need to talk to you."

The angel-winged maid quickly hides her eyes under her hair while looking down and says "I know. You were trying since yesterday. And I know what you want to talk about, so please talk to me and let it out."

The celestial is surprised, though mostly out of the fact that she was not expecting her friend to know what she wanted to talk about when she should have been expecting that since the day before.

Regardless, the shakes the surprise off and says "you really hurt me you know. I never thought you could be a jerk like that, after knowing you for so long."

The maid remains looking down and just nods while her friend continues "I still can't believe you'd pin me as one of those bastards after I've done so much for you. After I was the one that took those beatings to protect YOU."

She takes a deep breath, pushing her desire to bonk the maid on the head with her fist and continues "I was even there in the hospital with you when you were so badly injured by those retarded brutes! I got a good mind to turn around right now and leave for good."

The celestial's voice softens as she breathes through her mouth, then says "but no. If I did that then I would be some sort of selfish hypocrite, and I couldn't live with myself if I did that. Even if you did wound me so deeply."

"I'm so sorry," whispers the maid under her breath, to which the blue-haired girl in front stomps her foot, lowers her own head, then softly says "and then I remember, I did terrible things to you when you first came here to Gensokyo and even tried to kill you, and so I realized that... I can't blame you for being afraid of me at all. I was terrible to you when all you were trying to do was live your new life."

Rika finally looks up at her friend with a bit of surprise in her eyes, but when she sees her celestial friend's eyes filled with tears she gasps and exclaims "ah! Tenshi, don't cry! I-I'm sorry! I swear I won't-"

What happens next leaves Rika frozen in confusion and in shock.

Tenshi strikes her friend's face with her hand, though does so as gently but as firmly as she can, then she grabs her winged friend and holds her tight in a hug and sobs "don't you **dare** apologize you idiot! It's my fault this time! I'm the one that should say it! I'm sorry Rika! I'm sorry for trying to kill you! For pushing you away from me! And don't you dare tell me it wasn't my fault and just accept my damned apology!"

The kind Onkamikami feels more confused than ever.

This celestial was just chewing her off and now is crying uncontrollably while holding her like a desperate child would hold her mother.

Being the kind soul she is, Rika manages to return her friend's hug and softly cries "then I accept your apology, and hope. beyond hope. that you and I can stay best. friends. fo-forever. Bu-but *gulp* you have to accept my apology too."

The blue-haired girl's embrace tightens slightly as the maid sobs "I'm sorry, for not looking for you for help, like I used to do when we were children. You-you've always been there for me and I know you'll always be there. I'm sorry for making you cry."

Tenshi holds Rika's head to shut her up and sobs "and I'm sorry for attacking you so irrationally and trying to kill you, like those bastards before me. I'm sorry for making **you** cry!"

The girls keep holding each other for a little longer, comforting one-another, and after rubbing the angelic maid's head, Tenshi nods and whispers simultaneously with Rika "apology. accepted... My friend."

Moments later, at the left-side veranda, the girls sit to enjoy the quiet breeze while drinking hot green tea and letting the rest of their tears dry, though the quiet doesn't last.

"Miss Angel Rika! Miss Angel RIKAAAA!", calls Cirno as she slowly descends with Daiyousei in tow.

"Little ice fairy," sweetly says the maid before asking "what's the matter? Are you alright?"

Tenshi just rolls her eyes, but prefers to sip her tea and not comment yet.

The ice fairy smiles, pulls her little fairy friend by the arm until she's in front of the maid and says "this is her! This is Daiyousei, my friend!"

The maid smiles and giggles, then says "my, what an adorable fairy you are Miss Daiyousei."

The bashful great fairy turns her foot around the ground and sways her hands held together under her waist, and while turning her blushing face away she says "u-um, h-hi. Th-thank you very much."

Cirno smacks her friend's back and exclaims "don't be like that Dai-chan! Tell her your name!"

The sweet angelic maid extends her arm, shows her most peaceful smile, then says "oh dear, forgot my manners. Hello, my name is Rika Onkamikami."

The green-haired fairy gently flaps her wings twice, turns her blue eyes toward Rika's own, then bashfully says "um, I'm... um, Daiyousei. Um, thanks for taking care of Cirno."

She reaches for the maid's hand and while shaking, the angel-winged beauty before her flaps her wings and says "it's been my pleasure. She's such a sweet girl."

That beautiful smile, those cute wings, that perfect skin, that curvy body, that peaceful aura that reflect nature itself; when Daiyousei's eyes are greeted with this beautiful sight her knees weaken, her lips form a smile, a bit of blood trickles down her nose, and she suddenly collapses the very same moment Rika's sword turns colorful, it's jewel glows bright blue, and roars contently.

"Hey? M-Miss Daiyousei?", exclaims Rika after catching the fairy's limp body from the back before it hits the ground.

Cirno stares at her friend's smile, the drool dripping down her lips, and the blissful stiff gaze, then says "wow, I've never seen Dai-chan THIS happy before."

Tenshi spits her mouthful of tea as exaggeratedly as she can after misunderstanding the ice fairy's meaning completely while the maid concernedly asks "oh no! Momoko, what's the matter? The tea's bitter, isn't it?"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the dungeon of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Kimi Hong finds herself bound to a wall by magically enhanced chains while the mistress of the mansion grins with misplaced satisfaction from right in front of her.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me," threateningly says the Queen of the Night, "I saved your pathetic life. You **owe** me your loyalty!"

"**I OWE NOTHING TO YOU!**" shouts the shadow dragon youkai, shooting hateful glares at her captor.

Her body glows as she attempts to take her dragon form but fails due to the spell on the chains and grunts with pain after such failure.

Remilia chuckles playfully, then teasingly says "well, thank you for showing me such a nice and curvy body."

The light-orange-haired woman snarls, then the vampire continues "you think me a fool? I know what you are, and thus accommodated your surroundings accordingly. You're not escaping until **I** say so. But you know that won't happen until you pledge your indebted life to me."

"I owe **NOTHING** to you," spits the chained woman. "The one whom I owe a life debt is your pathetic dragon, Meiling Hong!"

The little vampire laughs at her captive, then points at her and loudly declares "it was I that changed your fate last night! It was **I** that prevented that **boy** from claiming your life! You owe me you LIFE in servitude!"

Kimi spits to the ground on her left and defiantly replies "I rather **DIE** at the hands of that disgusting boy-god than to be the servant of such a self-absorbed, insufferable **BRAT** like yourself!"

Remilia's grin becomes a flat, but dangerous leer, a powerful scarlet aura surrounds her frame, and in a dangerously low tone of voice says "so you want to do this the hard way then. Fine, I'll play with you. Know that by the end of this day you will be calling me Mistress Remilia!"

The mistress of the mansion lifts her sight to the ceiling, spreads her legs, raises her arms in the air, the scarlet aura around her grows three times her size, then she looks back at Kimi with that despicable vile grin and commands "Leon! Lina! Give it to her!"

The Kori twins come running from the vampire's sides, panting as they move toward the shadow, then said shadow shouts "no! Don't touch me!"

They ignore her commands and each touches one of the girl's arm, and from a furious glowering face, Kimi now has a face that suggests pure bliss.

"Hmph! Whatever she's experiencing is **too** good for her," comments the envious little queen.

"Remilia Scarlet!", shouts the familiar voice of Patchouli from the dungeon's door.

She rushes over to her friend and irritably argues "what the hell are you doing with the twins! They'll never change that stubborn dragon's mind, so give them back right now!"

The vampire's face completely changes to an uncaring flat stare as she shrugs and playfully asks "feeling lonely again Patchy?", then sternly says "jeez, you just can't get enough Leon, can't you?"

The magician strikes the young-looking vampire on the head with her book, and though she blushes with embarrassment she angrily says "quit it! I-I'm just in need of their assistance!"

Pouting while rubbing her head, the mistress of the mansion groans "sure, sure. Assistance."

She glances over at her blissful prisoner and the staring twins, then casually waves her hand sideways, gesturing them to cut their actions short and nonchalantly says "go with the lonely bean sprout. She needs some love."

The Kori twins promptly release the prisoner, whom stammers and looks around in surprise, then asks "w-wait! W-where's the maiden? Where's the fish?"

When she realizes she's been tricked, her face turns feral as she gazes at Remilia, her right eye turns to a red flame, her left turns to a black flame, and her ears blow steam as she furiously shouts "**youuuuu LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT OF A VAMPIRE! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'M GONNA-**" then she falls asleep right where she is.

Patchouli stands to her side with the twins by her own, aiming a glowing blue finger at the prisoner, then turns her head to her vampire friend and casually says "next time you want the twins' help you let me and Koa know."

Remilia just rolls her eyes and smiles, and when she gazes over to the librarian she giggles mischievously.

The magician holds the two twins tenderly around her arms against her chest like a pair of dolls, and without saying another word she walks toward the door.

"Bye Miss Remilia," casually says Leon from Patchouli arms.

"Please visit the library whenever you like," calls Lina just before the door to the dungeon closes.

After she is sure she's alone, the young vampire shakes her head with a smile as she says "ah, that Patchy. She's gotten too attached to those two already. Eh, next time I see her I'll warn her. It's only fair."

She then glances over to the dragon and playfully says "you just rest for now little lady. I won't stop until you become my new pawn."

Kimi snores loudly as though snorting a rude reply, but continues sleeping peacefully as though there isn't a single care in the world.

* * *

Still holding the twins so lovingly, Patchouli enters her library and calls "Koa, I got them back. You were right, she was using them on that dragon."

The red-haired demon girl descends in front of her mistress, flapping her wings almost threateningly and giving Knowledge a very challenging glare.

The magician librarian groans a sigh, then asks "what's the matter now?"

"Why do you hold them so close? I thought you hated them!", immediately spits the bat-winged cutie.

"Oh~" expresses the librarian as her eyes switch to glowing dangerously, then ominously says "that is none of your concern, and we've been through this already. I don't, er, *blush* hate them."

"Grrr! That's it Patchouli-sama!", exclaims the little devil as she summons a large blue magical orb on each hand and finishes "I liked them long before you did, so hand them over or GET READY!"

Patchouli places the kids on the ground and lovingly pats them away, softly saying "please stay behind the bookshelves," then suddenly her entire being gets enveloped in a fiery burst of energy and over her hands a pair of twisting flames dance threateningly fast, making what looks like a drill of flames.

She mutters impossibly fast words under her breath, her eyes glow deep blue for two seconds as she glares up at Koakuma, then says "your silly little spell card will be of no use now," then takes flight.

The poor devil starts shivering when she compares her little magic orbs with her lady's drill flames, but manages to sound brave as she says "y-you don't scare me! I-I'll beat you and take the twins for myself again!"

The purple bean sprout grins, chuckles, then says "you're on," and shoots an instant massive ball of fire with spiraling beams of light at the little red-haired devil from just clapping her hands.

Koakuma can only smile, stare and shiver nervously as the ball gets closer to her, and just as the tip of her nose feels the heat of the spell nearing her she shouts "GOT'CHA!", then raises both hands above her head and the orbs expand to form a shield.

Patchouli gasps and screams with fright when her own spell returns to her augmented in power, but she manages to cover herself up in a bubble as she moves away.

Though her own spell catches her leg, the bubble charm protects her from the full blow, and just as the fireball disappears, the purple-haired librarian is showered and buffeted by large blue orbs and magical kunai shot by her devilish subordinate.

The poor girl complains, shouts, screams, laments, and finally explodes, leaving a thick cloud of dust behind.

The confident little demon girl lands a few feet away from the cloud and says "heh, I should become the lady of this library. Eh, whatever. The twins are-**EEK!**"

Patchouli appears right behind Koakuma, who crosses her eyes, sucks on her lips and flaps her head-wings as the purple-haired girl grips the devil's white undies and pulls them up as far as she can pull.

The purple bean sprout's clothes are in tatters, her hat is missing a chunk on the left, the robe she keeps on top of her pajamas are gone, showing off her curvy figure, and her face and skin are full of burn marks.

She tightens the grip on the panty as she ominously whispers "well done Koa, you almost had me there. But seeing as I can't use magic against you, I'll have to resort to disgusting physical attacks. Be proud of what you have made me do."

Koakuma flaps her back-wings and smacks her mistress on the face, freeing herself from further punishment, then turns around and pounces the purple girl, shouting "that really hurt you lazy bitch!"

She grabs the librarian by the neck and shakes her up, then slaps her face, leaving a scratch on the cheek.

Patchouli grabs a nearby book and smacks her devil subordinate on the head, and after knocking her off, the purple-haired girl quickly gets on her knees and pounces on the back of the devil.

She grabs the red-head's left arm and both legs and starts pulling them backward while shouting "give up! GIVE IT UP!"

Koakuma groans out loud, then from the bookshelf Leon blushes and comments "whoa! My love is going for the panties again!"

Patchouli moans, shrieks and coughs, then Lina cover's her brother's eyes, shuts her own, then nervously says "oh-ho-ho my look at her squeeze those. Didn't know that skin could mold like that."

Both librarians choke after shrieking, then Remilia covers the girl's eyes just as she's about to peek, and comments "no, no, children should not watch such obscene things. **WHOA!** They did it! They actually DID IT! Dirty HANDS!"

"You DRITY-!", screams Patchouli, then Sakuya covers Remilia's eyes and says "my lady, don't soil your sight with such lewd behavior!"

"N-no, not the-_heh-**heereee~**_" passionately screams Koakuma, then Flandre covers Sakuya's eyes and shouts "BITE HER HAND! PUNCH HER BUTT! KICK HER IN THE GROIN! **RIP HER GODDAMNED SPINE!** **I WANNA SEE BLOOD!**"

The two librarians square off, each with a black eye, scratches, bite-marks, some clothes on, breathing hard through their mouths, and looking about ready for more.

They rush at each other and immediately tangle up on the ground, where Patchouli bites her subordinate's calf.

Koakuma screams, but manages to grab her mistress' waist and bites her while bopping her on the ribs and hip.

Flandre keeps on cheering while the onlookers try to cover her eyes to no avail, then Sakuya angrily shouts "my lady, let me STOP them already!"

Remilia screams "NO WAY! I'm amused!"

The librarians square off once more, now down to their underwear only, Patchouli's lavender flower pattern underwear set, and Koakuma's a plain white set.

They rush at each other, lock hands in front of a beautiful woman in green, then a pair of full washtubs smash solidly on both girls' heads, knocking them out instantly.

The glowering Meiling throws away the silver washtubs with water inside, dusts her hand, then grumbles "what an unsightly behavior. And such a **dishonorable** fighting style. I'm going to have to discipline you two!"

She walks away from the scene and disappears from the library, while Remilia disappointedly screams "aww COME ON! So anti-climactic!"

Flandre moans with disappointment and shouts "boo~ So boring! You didn't even draw blood!"

Sakuya sighs as she face-palms, then looks at the twins and nods once.

Moments later, Lina has Koakuma's head on her lap as she cures the moaning devil's facial scratches, while Leon has Patchouli's head on his lap and combs her hair while the ever-elegant maid ties one last bandage around the moaning mummified librarian's head.

Remilia looks at nowhere in particular, shrugs casually, then says "eh, they neither won or lost."

Flandre looks very impatient as she comments "how more anti-climactic can you get? Sis, let's show them how it's done!"

The vampire mistress shakes her head and says "no-no Flan. We are high-class ladies, we can't- KYAAAH!"

The cute blonde vampire pounces her sister, and now both vampires struggle on the ground while the maid and the twins tend to the wounded.

Unknown to all, the figure of the girl in green watches from the shadows, glaring straight at the brawling vampires with glowing white eyes.

* * *

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Rika dusts her hands after she finishes serving lunch to Yuki, Tenshi and the two fairies, then looks at her Makaian sister and casually says "hang in there sis. If you want, I could help you."

From her perch, Suzaku tweets, then telepathically says "_that would be very helpful my lady._"

The poor fire witch's hat is now fuchsia and has a pink ribbon attached to her wrist, and trembling while looking miserable, she looks at the shrine maid and whimpers "b-b-bu-but I'm d-d-do-doing great! R-re-re-really!"

Tenshi points at the blond witch and casually says "as great as Suika's morning chunks."

Before the other girls can even complain the celestial's head is met with a thick wooden spoon and Rika's face of disapproval as she says "Tenshi, you are on the table with guests of the shrine. Please act like the lady that you are."

The celestial rubs her head and grumbles an apology, then the angel-winged maid sighs and says "fine, fine, just behave when there are gue- um. Ladies, please excuse me. You may come and watch, but don't interfere."

The girls, vermilion bird and fairies look estranged at each other, then rush out after the maid, leaving behind some unfinished bowls of rice.

To their surprise, they spot Youmu at the back of the shrine with her Roukanken drawn while she stares straight at Rika, but speaks no words.

"I've instructed the girls to not interfere," loudly says the angelic maid as she pulls a pair of black fingerless gloves with white angel wings outlined on the palm, and the yin-yang symbol on the back from her pockets.

"One spell card each. Is that alright?", calls the lovely maid as she places the gloves on, to which the half-ghost nods and tightens the grip on her sword, now holding the Hakurouken by its hilt, though keeping it sheathed.

Tenshi summons her Sword of Hisou and rushes forth toward her friend, but Rika stops moving and sternly commands "do not interfere, I said!"

The celestial stops in her tracks and looks lost to her friend, but the maid turns around with that warm smile of hers, bows, then says "you already had your chance to speak with me. It's Miss Youmu's turn. I am sure you understand."

At first instance the blue-haired girl stares blankly at her friend, but a smile quickly takes her face, and as she puts her sword away she nods and says "eh, I'll protect the shrine then."

The angelic girl flaps her wings as she giggles, then happily says "thanks. Don't worry, we'll be just fine."

As Rika turns around and walks over to Youmu, Daiyousei approaches Tenshi and asks "is the angel going to be alright for real?"

The celestial just smiles wider, chuckles, looks straight at Rika, then softly says "I rather protect you, girlfriend."

The shrine maid is seven feet in front of the half ghost, and with a stern look she bows her head and says "whenever you're ready."

The silver-haired girl bows her head in respect, bends her knees, grips her swords tight, then the angelic girl calls "Oath Keeper," jumps inside the golden gate that opens to her left, then jumps out with her Thunder Sword, the one with the white band on the unsharpened edge, on hand, and unsheathes it.

She points it at the silver-haired girl, grins, then says "no holding back. Tenshi will be protecting the shrine," to which the half-ghost nods again and powers up along with the maid, all while the shrine's guests and Suzaku watch from the protected veranda.

* * *

The two girls raise their swords, a sudden wind picks up several leaves from the ground, and they launch at each other the moment the only green leaf passes between them.

They clash their swords midway through the rush, Rika swings upright, Youmu blocks with a sideway swing and proceeds to unsheathe her short sword.

The maid positions her sword sideways to block the Hakurouken and jump- flips backward, then her sword resonates and a shockwave forms around her.

The wave turns to a spear, but before she sends it forward she cuts it in two and smacks each with the back of her sword, sending both flying almost simultaneously at the half-ghost.

Youmu crosses her swords and swings them both, creating a crossing green energy wave that slows the maid's spears, then jumps high to the air with her ghost-half twirling around her to increase her jumping height.

The angel maid slowly flaps her wings as she takes two steps back while looking up, then raises her blade a second before the silver-haired girl's swords hit.

They push against each other as hard as they can, grunting as their blades clink with their own trembling from the expense of their strength, then both push each other away, and Rika sheathes her sword.

This estranges the gardener, but she shrugs it off and rushes to attack once more.

The cute maid just stands there, holding her sheathed sword while bending her knees and glaring at her opponent as her sword and sheath glow brighter while she charges them with energy.

"Don't make light of me!", furiously shouts Youmu as she swings Roukanken with all her might.

Rika moves her neck slightly and only loses three strands of hair to the attack, and when her opponent is close the maid kicks her on the gut and lifts her to the air, jumps after and kicks her on the ribs wile in mid-air, then she unsheathes the sword and swings it with all her might.

The strength of her swing merges with the energy she had collected, and the sheer force of that swing pushes Youmu's body farther back than it normally would after the hand guard of Rika's sword makes contact with her.

The gardener in green and her ghost half fly backward until they crash against the storage house's doors, crushing them in the process, and Rika gasps and exclaims "auuu! My lady's going to be mad!"

The half-ghost springs up on her feet, looking shocked with the surprise she just got, then stares straight at her opponent and blinks while asking "what the heck was THAT? Rika, your arm!"

From the veranda Tenshi furiously shouts "you idiot, you're gonna break your hand! I thought you said you were going to be ok!"

The cute maid shakes her finger while clicking her tongue, then says "nah-ah-ah. I've been training for this. True, the attack harms my hand and hurts so bad I can't even sweep, but that's why I made these."

She lifts her left hand to show her fingerless glove to all and says "I synthesized these a while back. They protect me from the force and the friction of that attack," then grips her sword with both hands and says "now come. There's a bit more energy left in this, and I'd very much like to try something with it."

Youmu grins, raises her long sword, sheathes her short sword, then rushes toward Rika while shouting "you can try, but you won't get the chance!"

The celestial groans, raises a barrier over the storehouse and her maid friend's greenhouse, then sits on the wooden floor while shaking her legs with anxiety.

The speedy gardener is already upon Rika, swinging her sword down with all her might, but the maid sidesteps and avoids the attack, leaving the eager little gardener open to another attack.

The voluptuous angel chuckles, swings her sword sideways, but instead of a forceful strike her blade crackles with pure electricity from the energy still stored in it.

The half-ghost blocks and is immediately shocked, and amongst her blubbering she shouts "**N-n-n-not ag-g-g-ga-i-i-i-in-n!**"

She manages to jump away from the attack after her ghost-half phases through the maid, tickling her and making her lose her concentration, and then the gardener gasps.

Rika mutters "...command thee, who opens the gates of Hell. Come forth..." as a spell card floats above her head and glows yellow, so Youmu sighs and says to herself "so, this is how it's going to be", and pulls a spell card from her pocket, takes her short sword again, and rushes forth.

The winged maid opens her eyes and shouts "Thunder Sign, Indignation no Shouou Jin'eizan," and a massive bolt of yellow lightning strike her raise sword.

At that same moment Youmu shouts "Soul Cutting, Ascension to Nirvana," crosses her swords in front of herself and gathers a concentration of pink energy.

The maid swings her lightning-charged sword downward, the gardener swings both swords, and the moment those two massive collections of energy collide, a hurricane-leveled wind blows from the center of it, lifting dust and leaves to the air all around, and the onlookers at the veranda hold on for fear of being blown away.

From the veranda, after the shrine settles, Tenshi and Yuki scream, then the celestial shouts out "RIKA! Rika, speak to m-**eh?**"

In the very center of the meeting of energies stand Rika and Youmu, shaking hands and smiling at each other while the gardener says "I understand now. I accept your apology," then she and the maid look toward the spectators, widen their smiles, then drop on the ground like sacks of lead.

"KYAH! THE ANGEL! THE ANGEL IS DEAD~!" desperately cries Daiyousei, while Cirno holds her face in a panic and repeats "she's alright, she's alright, she's **alright**!"

They all rush to the downed girls and find them full of light burn marks from the blast of energy, and with content smiles and slightly opened eyes.

Even Suzaku sighs with relief when they are sure the girls are alright, then Hatate lands right behind the group and shouts "Rika~! Rika, Youmu's headed this way and-," and she realizes she's one battle too late, stomps on the ground, then shouts "blast that eel stand's new lunch menu from the Moon! I'm LATE!"

The group of girls, including the burned girls sitting straight, look at each other in disbelief, but none find proper words to shoot at this shut-in tengu reporter.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Myouren Temple, Nue sits on one of the prayer benches at the main temple, grinning smugly as she boasts about her remaining injuries to the three young-looking youkai girls around her.

Though her body has healed and the snake that coils around her right arm is back in full health, her wings have yet to grow fully, and her left eye is only half-sized, leaving her socket slightly exposed.

Ichirin walks by with Unzan floating around her shoulder and a tray of tea and leftover-lunch on her hands, grimaces at the nue youkai and commands "put that bandage over that eye! It's not healed yet, and it's still quite unsightly!"

The undefined girl pulls the lower lid of her right eye and sticks her tongue out at the nun, but complies to the demands and lowers the bandage so that it covers her eye.

Ichirin continues her quick pace to the back rooms, stops in front of a white and blue paper door, then slides it open and looks around with surprise.

Byakuren and Nazrin both sit in the center of the room next to a disturbed futon, and on the farthest corner, cowering like a cornered cat, is Kali, shivering and whimpering as she tries to push herself through the wall.

The youkai nun sighs and comments "she still believes you're going to harm her, huh?"

The Youkhrist and the mouse nod simultaneously, then the gradient-haired woman sighs "she thinks I'll pour more light into her system."

Unzan sighs while the nun-looking girl places the tray next to the futon and pulls her hood back, revealing her loose short light-blue hair, then casually crawls to the shadow and says "oi, we already told you, it was that Drake who stuffed you with holy magic."

The shadow girl seems to calm down the closer Ichirin gets, and slowly uncurls and calms down while said girl sits next to the shadow and continues "Lady Hijiri had to seal your own powers while that stuff filters out of your body, or you could cease to exist in an instant, so you should be more grateful to her."

"It's alright Ichirin. Let it go. I'm just glad she's alright," comments the monk as she gets back on her feet.

Nazrin narrows her left eye and scornfully says "I don't know. She should be far more grateful. If Kyo hadn't found her and **YOU** hadn't sealed her shadow powers, she would me a mere memory by now."

The nun twitches and hiccups a yelp when the shadow girl suddenly wraps an arm around her waist and holds her like some sort of protective blanket.

"Oh-ho my," chuckle the monk just as the mouse youkai points while grinning mischievously and says "well, I guess Kyouko's going to have another _lesbian _fit."

Though she blushes with embarrassment, Ichirin places her hand on Kali's puffy white hair and exclaims "h-hey, she's just frightened! D-don't pick on her like that!"

Nazrin shrugs and places her hands behind her head, then Byakuren sighs and says "but what should we do with her? She definitely doesn't want to stay here with us."

The nun and the pink Nyuudo both stare at Kali as she glowers at the Youkhrist and slowly shakes her head.

Nazrin raises her tail to listen to the little mouse on the basket squeak, then takes her breath and says "my sources say Reimu Hakurei has good relations with the shadows. Maybe we could take her to the shrine."

Byakuren softly claps her hands under her chin while gleefully saying "that's a wonderful idea Nazu-chan!"

"H-hey!", spits the mouse girl, "don't call me something so embarrassing like that!"

The sweet monk smiles warmly as she asks "aww, why not. A cute name like that fits you so well."

As the girls continue to argue, Kali rests her head on Ichirin's thigh while thinking "_the Hakurei Shrine? That's a GREAT idea! I'll play the good and innocently weak shadow girl, and when Reimu is asleep, I'll slice her throat and free Kimi and me from her evil seals!_"

She notices the magician monk staring at her, twitches and trembles lightly as she nervously thinks "_oh crap, she's looking at me. Sh-she's going to find out what I'm planning and purify me!_"

"Fine, I'll take her there myself," sighs the nun youkai as she grabs the shadow girl and stands her up along with herself.

They are practically the same size, yet the shadow keeps acting like a scared child around the Youkhrist, making her look younger than the nun.

"Excellent," sings Byakuren while clapping her hands softly in front of her chest, then casually adds "and seeing as Miss, erm..."

The shadow girl gets closer to the nun youkai's ear and whispers her name, then said youkai says "Kali."

The saint-like monk continues "well seeing as Miss Kali doesn't want to eat, I suggest you go there now."

Ichirin and Unzan straighten up and salute while the girl says "I'll be over and back before you know it Lady Hijiri!"

The sweet woman places her left hand on her cheek while she flaps her right in the air and says "oh please, take your time. Enjoy some time off. You deserve it."

The nun, the cloud and the shadow share estranged stares, but just moments later they are all walking out of the shrine grounds because poor Kali can't fly with her powers sealed, and just before getting out of sight Ichirin stops and waves back at Lady Hijiri and the girls, then resumes her walk.

Nazrin, Shou and Byakuren wave back, then the mouse asks "alright, out with it. Why did you want her to go to the shrine so badly?"

The Youkhrist giggles and promptly replies "I want her to befriend Rika."

Ignoring Kyouko and Orange, whom are having a swordfight with their brooms on the grounds below them, the mouse and tiger youkai stare at their lady, whom smiles and says "she had a misunderstanding with the poor dear, and I would like it very much if they made up and put that awful incident behind them."

Shou covers her mouth with her hand as she chuckles, then looks at Byakuren and says "you can be too kind to that girl sometimes."

The magician monk holds her chin while pondering, then turns her neck at the girls and asks "say, where's Mini-chan?"

From the Youkai Forest, Murasa's voice echoes loudly as she declares "I'll NEVER give up on the kappa swimsuit goodness! EVER!"

Her declaration comes with a brief explosion, and as the tiny black dot that is the captain falls back to the ground she cries "MEDIIIIIIC!"

The girls at the temple shrug, walk back into the temple, and close the doors, ignoring the yamabiko and the orange girl moaning on the ground with their broken brooms on their sides.

* * *

In a distant land, hidden in a similar manner to Gensokyo, only larger in size and housing all sorts of creatures imaginable, Drake floats in a semi-transparent body as he looks down at this world.

"_I know this place,_" thinks the boy.

He is forced inside a massive castle built with light-grey bricks and adorned with light colors, where the marble floors looks like natural grass and dirt, and observes the many beings coming and going along a busy path that bridges one side of the land to the other.

"_This is... was my home before. Wh-why am I-?_"

Harpies, cyclopes, mermen, all kinds of beings, all living under one same roof, coexisting with humans harmoniously.

"_This WAS my home. B-but why? Why am I seeing it again?_"

His eyes widen when amongst the many creatures he sees youkai and shadow beings walking amongst the multitude, and to his surprise one of those shadows helps a little human girl reach an apple, then waving at her when leaving as though nothing spectacular has happened.

"_We worked very hard to make this world the reality it is now. I even fought for them all, even the shadows. And yet, now I-_"

Gengetsu, Mugetsu and Kana suddenly fly in front of him, and with a smile on her face, the winged dream demon casually says "nice place you got here. Is it your home?"

Before the godling can answer, there is a loud cracking sound from above, and when they all look up they spot the dream maid holding to what WAS a piece of the ceiling on her hands, and as she pathetically tries to hide it behind herself, she sheepishly says "erm, I didn't do it, I swear. B-broke off on its own. Yeah."

The angelic-winged demon quickly flies over to her sister, fuming while arguing incoherently, then Kana takes the chance and gets closer to Drake.

She waves at him and smiles all friendly-like, then says "this is a very lovely dream. One would believe the one having this dream would be more... open-minded."

"What are you talking about? Who are you?" angrily asks the boy.

The maid poltergeist waves and says "time to wake up. Please be nicer to Gensokyo. We haven't seen all the sights just yet."

"Wait, what?", is all the god-in-training can ask before he is sent backward through a spiraling tube, and then he wakes up.

He lies on top of a very uncomfortable rock formation, next to a lake that looks slightly reddish.

He covers his face with his hands as he says "whoa. S-still in Gensokyo. Ugh."

He groans loudly out of pain, blaming his current ailment on the uneven rocks he was sleeping on, then he looks to the water, frowns, then says to himself "tainted waters. I shouldn't drink this."

Regardless of what he says, he cups his hands together in the water, surprising himself when he notices how crystalline it truly is, then thinks "_I was so thirsty I did this on impulse. I'm glad I did._"

As he drinks the water his thoughts turn on the strange dream, which to him seem like broken fragments of a giant puzzle, then he stops drinking, glances around, then thinks "_me? Thirsty? I haven't felt that need in ages. Wait, maybe it was that dream... that triggered such ancient memory. Or maybe..._"

The memory of his fight with Kimi quickly flashes clearly in front of his mind.

He re-lives every moment of the fight down to the scarlet mansion, and that's when he frowns and growls.

The image of Remilia staring back at him burns brightly in his mind, and with that image so clear he jumps on his feet and exclaims "that's right! That mansion! I have to purge it from the evil demon I saw!"

He bends his knees and kicks off the ground with enough force to make the water ripple, but only seven feet in the air and he stops, yet feels himself pushing forward.

"What sort of curse is this?", he furiously asks when he realizes he's suspended in mid-air by an unseen force.

"Calm yourself," calls Shikieiki from all around him before appearing in front of him, walking in the air as though on the ground.

She looks sternly into his eyes, bows her head just slightly, then says "please reconsider your actions. What you are trying to do now will cost you dearly."

"You protect a DEMON?", furiously shouts the boy, then points at the Yama and exclaims "you are not supposed to take sides, so back away Judge!"

"I am **trying** to help you Drake! I am trying to stop you from making yet **another** mistake! I am trying to help you rise," argues the green-haired girl, looking straight into the godling's eyes in hope that some reason will drill into his brain.

The boy's bandana turns orange as he looks around to unlock his gaze from Eiki's and says "I don't need your help! What I need is to purge that place so this land can be blessed!"

"You'll just end up disrupting a very delicate balance you fool!" shouts the Enma.

She flies in a circle around the boy while saying "look, I cannot stop you from making your own mistakes, but I will warn you now, that place is protected by many. Demons from the dark, as you kindly call them, and beings from the light alike. If you attack that place you'll not only fail, you'll fall!"

He looks straight at Shikieiki once she flies full circle, then softly says "thank you for your concern. I'll be going now. I am sure that once I'm done, this vehicle of light will fill up and I'll get out of all your hairs."

The boy now finds himself able to move again and promptly flies away from the scene.

Eiki can only watch him as he moves further away, then sighs and says to herself "why are idiots so darn stubborn? Ah, but I cannot interfere. I tried to avoid it, but it just was meant to happen, I supposed."

Her body becomes translucent, and before she disappears her voice echoes as she says "I can only hope those souls are all ready when their time comes."

After she disappears a couple of fairies fly by, twirling above the water before rushing away again, giggling amongst themselves, blissfully unaware of the happenings in the world around them.

* * *

Meanwhile, over the Forest of Magic, Reimu moans out of frustration and loudly says "I only found stupid fairies, a spider, a bucket girl, but no Drake. I thought flying around aimlessly would work again."

She then looks forward and complains "ugh, and what's this now? It's going to rain? Oh great, now I'll have to-"

"Ooh, what's this," excitedly whispers the girl after abruptly stopping her own complaining after laying eyes upon Ail's still-blue roofed house.

"U-fu-fu_-fu~_ I should pay my darling a visit. Who knows, maybe he's in the bathtub right now!"

And so the red and white shrine maiden with hungry glistening eyes dives straight to the front door of the house, giggling with expectation.

The second she lands she picks her hair up, straightens her bow, dusts her sleeves, pats her skirt, then bends toward the door in a lady-like manner and sweetly calls "Ail~, it's Reimu~ Are you home?"

The door opens, the maiden coos with glee, but before she says anything she notices Sanae sitting on the newly dyed couch with a dainty cup of tea, and glowers fiercely along her love adversary, then sparks fly from each girl's eyes and crash midway through.

"**What is she doing here?**", furiously asks the red and white armpit maiden.

"**I should ask the same thing!**" furiously replies the blue and white armpit maiden.

"Reimu~! You're just in time," sweetly calls Ayalina, whom still holds the door open, unnoticed until now by the starring maidens.

She grabs the black-haired girl and forces her inside the house while saying "I was just about to tell Sanae my birthday story! Come, come! Any woman after my son's heart MUST hear this tale," her voice turns demonic, "or **DIE!**", then her voice return to sweet "so take a seat!"

Now Reimu understands why Sanae didn't move from her seat when the ocular challenge was issued, and out of curiosity she asks "so how did you get captured?"

The green-haired cutie lifts a brown bag to show to her opponent and while she rubs her forehead she sighs and says "I came to get Ail-kun a change of clothes, but got careless and got caught."

The sweet young-looking mother hands Reimu a cup of brown tea while happily saying "she found my son's underwear drawer and tried raiding it."

Red and white shoots the perverted priestess a dirty glance, but Ayalina clutches her head, turns her over, then says "don't play saint now young lady. You wanted to catch my boy in the bathtub. Commendable as that is, you should do that at night, when **I'm** asleep and unable to kill you for it."

Blue and white now shoots a dirty glance at her opponent, who shivers and sweats nervously after being revealed so bluntly.

"Ah, girls," begins the deceivingly sweet flower youkai as she sits between the maidens and continues "I understand what's going on. Ail may be as dense as a brick wall, but I'm not.

She points at Reimu's nose and sweetly says "you used a very mean trick on my son's favorite girl."

Sanae sticks her tongue out at her rival, but is pointed on the nose by Ayalina who sweetly says "and **you** keep putting my baby boy on edge by taking Miss Hakurei head-on, knowing full well you'll only end up hurt."

The red and white girl softly snickers, but doesn't escape the blue and white girl's notice, and soon-after both girls shoot ocular sparks at each other, but the young-looking mother grabs their heads and forces both their noses on each of her own armpits.

They flail their arms around, throwing their tea away and smashing the cups on the clean and now-polished wooden floor, then slowly the girls wind down and almost fall asleep.

"Now that you have calmed down," begins the woman, "let me say this. I am so proud of my boy for having such fine females gunning for his heart, but I'm afraid your quarreling may be upsetting him to the point of him hurting himself needlessly."

She releases the girls' heads, allowing them to fall on each thigh, smiling blissfully, then happily says "now, let's begin with my story, shall we?"

* * *

_It is a cold full moon's night, and in the highest tower of an ancient roman castle, lights flicker, and an old man cackles._

"You see, I was once a very beautiful rosebud, not yet in my bloom, but still more beautiful than the rest. But like all flowers, once I bloom, it's downhill from there. Right girls?"

_Inside that tower is a shaggy man with a thick greyish-black beard, who wears a ridiculous blue robe with a blue night-cap that's supposed to be his wizard's hat._

_The man cackles as sparks from several chemical vials, each of one specific color, fall on a single rosebud, and though it appears the rose will burn, the sparks course around it gently without harming a single petal._

_The rose lies on a glass plate on an old wooden table, and the vials all seem to float above and around it, discarding themselves by smashing to the ground whenever their contents emptied._

_Whirring contraptions built with gears of all sizes turn and turn to generate more energy that courses through metal wires that cling to separate black rods nailed to the table, and the reason the beakers shoot those sparks._

_"YESSSS," hisses the man. "Just a little longer, and you will be the perfect wife!"_

Ayalina interrupts the story again to sweetly say "yes, this poor desperate misfit of a human male wanted a wife so desperately, but he was so weak and pathetic he had to resort to sorcery and alchemy to make one for himself."

"Pathetic," comments Reimu.

"Such a pitiable soul," comments Sanae.

"Right, right. Er, you are still talking about my father here," nervously whispers the young mother, to which both maidens apologize.

_The old wizard cackles as the rose starts to bloom under the full moon, but just as his experiment is to succeed, his machines breaks down, the electric power stops flowing, the vials all drop to the ground, and the rose starts to wither._

_The man panics and shouts "no! Not now," desperately looks all around himself, picks up a book from a stool nearby and says "I sacrificed TOO MUCH for this. If I have to finish it with a spell, then so be it!"_

_The man rapidly mutters an incantation in Latin, then slowly raises his arm to channel a blue wispy energy that swirls with life around, then beams it straight at the flower and chants louder and louder._

_The rose glows, it begins to bloom as it lifts to the air and stays hovering above its glass plate, then a sudden surge of energy sends the man flying out the rotten door and onto an old bed behind said door._

_He blubbers as he struggles to get off the bed, jumps on his feet, rushes back into his laboratory, then gasps at the marvelous sight._

_Ayalina stands on her new human feet, exploring her naked body with her hands and wondering what is that mist that covers her chest and her groin._

_Her hair is long and wavy, her eyes are a beautiful hazel, and her skin is flawlessly perfect._

_She looks at the drooling human before her, takes gentle steps toward him, gracefully waves her arms around, the mist still covering her unmentionables, and then she slaps the poor bastard so hard he spins several times in place before finally stopping in a daze and dropping to the floor._

_"What the HELL kind of man **ARE** you? Turning me into a human without giving me proper clothing! What's the MATTER with you? And what is this place, a derelict castle? WHAT A JOKE!"_

_The man moans in a daze on the ground as he tries to recover from the slap and the incessant nagging from his 'perfect' wife, and now curses himself for forgetting the spoonful of sugar needed to sweeten the woman's personality._

**_One month later..._**

_Ayalina now wears a beautiful sleeveless pink robe with fuchsia roses imprinted on the silky threads, and lies on a beautiful queen-sized bed with red sheets and soft feather-pillows._

_It is a beautiful morning when her husband and father, as creepy as that may sound, peeks an eye through a crack on the golden-framed door and asks "say honey, how about we do it already. It's been a month already."_

_The gorgeous woman looks to the door with disgust, grimaces at the thought, then nonchalantly says "no thanks. Not in the mood today."_

_The man growls, kicks-open the door, then points at his woman and demands "I created you to be the perfect wife, so we are going to do it right here and now, and that is FINAL!"_

_He rips off his robes to reveal to her a disgustingly dry and shaggy body, though surprisingly tanned, and a dirty white cloth for underwear._

_Ayalina gags at the sight, her face turns green, she jumps off her bed, and holding her mouth so her lunch won't fall back out of place, she rushes through the door, knocking the weak man out of her way, then the sound of her vomiting graces the dazed man._

_He shakes his head to recover himself, gasps with horror, then shouts "NO! Not my bed! NOT AGAIN!"_

Back in present, Ayalina smiles sweetly as she says "and there's the story of my birth. So what did you think girls?"

Sanae sweats and chuckles nervously while trying to voice her opinion, but her tongue ties.

Reimu chuckles as nervously as her rival, but manages to ask "s-so what does this have to do with Ail and us? And what happened to that man?"

The woman's now-maroon eyes turn feral and the pupils slit like that of a lizard's, she smiles as she looks at the girls, then sweetly says "to answer you second question, he tried t jump me one night when I was supposed to be at my weakest, but the fool forgot it was a full moon's night, so I gripped his neck, pulled, and ripped out his goddamned spine."

The maidens' faces turn blue, the rest of the color from their skins drain down to the ground, then the young-looking mother smiles as she happily says "I do believe that answered your first question, right?"

The maidens nod while trembling terribly, then the flower youkai happily says "good then. You'll stop upsetting my baby boy from now on."

The cunning red and white asks "wait, I'd like to know, how come you turn into a half fairy while Ail turns into a dragon?", diverting the conversation to something less threatening.

Ayalina smiles and sighs, slowly shakes her head, then says "well, when I found Gensokyo, shortly before the barrier was placed, I met this lovely fairy who grew attached to me, and I grew fond of her almost instantly."

She sighs again, her smile turns pained, then she continues "then one day this busty shrine maiden dressed in red, white and black flew by, the little fairy went to play with her, then ended up dying horribly at the hands of that woman."

Reimu's face turns black and her skin turns paler than Youmu's ghost-half while the flower youkai sight and continues "and when I tried to pick her up she turned into a pink ball of light and merged with my heart."

She rubs her chin while pondering then says "hmm, might have something to do with my father's spell. Or maybe that mixture of chemicals. I dunno."

Sanae smiles widely and viciously, then sweetly says "well, it seems these **RED** and** WHITE **shrine maidens have been around Gensokyo for some time, huh?"

The young brown-haired mother sighs again, then says "yeah, they have, but I hold no grudge against them."

"A-and why is that?", shakingly asks the red and white maiden conveniently sliding away toward the door.

Ayalina giggles, turns a bright and warm smiling face at her guest, then says "because she got old and shriveled up, lost those big pearls for breasts she had, but I didn't! Score one for the rose youkai!"

The frightened red and white and the stunned blue and white both stare at Ail's mother, wondering what exactly runs in that mind of hers.

* * *

Later that cloudy afternoon, Drake finally gets his bearing straight, right after crashing against a lonely house at the Youkai Forest.

He now has the Misty Lake on his sights from the sky and quickens his pace, already summoning that disrupting energy of his and feeling sick to his stomach at the thought of having to fight a demon in the shape of a little girl.

A powerful force pushes the boy's back and sends him crashing fast and hard face-down to the dirt road below.

He gets off the ground like nothing ever happened to him and scowls when he looks above to see Yukari's gap closing off, then he looks around while snarling and shouts "keep out of my way, or I'll take **you** out as well, demon!"

He fixes his eyes forward, everything turns black for an instant, and now Yukari Yakumo stands several feet away from the boy in her purple dress, holding her umbrella like a cane, her eyes glowing purple and looking feral with rage.

She raises her parasol and angrily says "you crossed the line already and you aim to go even further. I'm tired of you, _god-in-training!_ Now I'll teach you the kind of bitch I can **really** be!"

Before Drake can respond an innumerable amount of small gaps with glaring red eyes open all around him, and before he knows it a single magic kunai touches his body and all those eyes shoot six flaming bullets each at him.

All the godling can do is cover his face with his arms and take on the barrage, all those bullets exploding violently on contact and lifting so much dust even the gap youkai is blinded, then it all stops.

"Pheh, you think I'm stupid," calls the blonde sage. "Come on out so we can finish this properly."

The godling jumps ten feet off the ground with that gauntlet of light on his right arm raised, screaming a war cry as he approaches his target.

Yukari jumps out of the way and swings her parasol like a sword, shooting several laser beams from its tip that Drake has to block with the gauntlet to defend himself from them.

They glare at each other from a distance, then the boy says "I knew you were going to be a problem from the start. I'd have killed you then, if we weren't in the maiden's home!"

The woman chuckles, lifts her closed fan on her left arm next to her cheek, then says "my sentiments exactly, little man. Bastards like you are best dealt as soon as they are met, but as fate would have it, we just **had** to meet under Reimu's watch. No matter. I'll just kill you now."

She swings her fan and shoots several blue kunai, opens five black gaps behind the godling and fires fast white lasers from them, swings her umbrella again and shoots those blue lasers, then jumps back into one of her gaps with red ribbons and disappears.

The boy's bandanna turns flaming red as he raises a shield of light in front of himself to block the lasers and kunai, then jumps straight up to avoid the fast white beams.

He is caught in mid-air by the ankle and forced back down toward the homing beams, but Drake moves fast and grabs Yukari's right shoulder with that gauntlet, sinks those magical blades into her skin, pulls her along for the ride, but it's not after her grabs her neck with his left hand that she screams.

He absorbs her magical energy to make her more vulnerable and doesn't let go, even after smashing against the ground and getting blasted by three of her beams, but he screams and pushes her off, then shoots yellow beams at random to expel the excess energy before it harms him.

Drake groans after shooting the energy and falls on his knees next to the kneeling Yukari, and now both breath hard through their mouths while recovering, both shooting dirty glares at each other with every breath taken.

The gap youkai recovers faster and quickly takes some distance, then snarls at the boy and says "so that's how you did it! You monster! Those rabbits never stood a chance!"

The godling manages to stand up, then cockily says "don't forget the doppelganger bitch that tried to assassinate me."

"**Don't piss me off you son-of-a-bitch!**", furiously shouts the sage when she raises her parasol, but she slowly lowers her weapon, hides half her body inside her gap, and opens her fan to cover half her face.

The brown-haired boy can feel something strange inside of him, then the youkai sage's eyes become calm, yet vicious as she says "it was by my power that you understand and speak our language. I supposed I can take that away now that you have turned on me."

A strange sound fizzes inside the boy's head, and with that sadistic look on her face Yukari softly says "now, I'm going to stab your heart from your left. Good-bye Drake Starstriker." (今、私はあなたの左から刺すあなたの心をするつもりです。さよならドレイクスターストライカー。)

The sage disappears from the field, but the godling grins as he raises his right hand as though reaching for something.

A large golden frame shaping an European sword appears on the palm of his hand and he grips it, the frame fills with golden light, then Yukari appears to his left just as his diamond sword materializes fully on his hand and blocks her attack, then pushes her away.

The youkai sage gasps with surprise and asks "th-that sword! W-wait, **how did you know?**"

That beautiful and accursed sword with the angel-winged cross-guard, dragon-head pommel, ruby grip and diamond blade with runes inscribed on it is now back in its master's hands, and Yukari knows this means she must either kill the boy now of face terrible consequences later.

Drake laughs, stabbing his sword on the ground to avoid tripping on himself as he does, then he just stops laughing to snarl at the youkai sage and says "you think me a fool? I knew I couldn't trust you with this language spell you placed on me, so I convinced the locals to allow me to read their history."

The youkai sage growls inward, then finishes "you learned how to read and speak out language by reading our books with my spell. Congratulations. A lesser being would have ignored that knowledge and strolled around all proud of nothing."

"Fine then," She begins as she opens another gap and tosses her parasol and fan inside, sits on its edge and flies five feet off the ground and threateningly says "I supposed I underestimated you, but no more. You and that sword are a threat, so I will do what I must."

The godling rushes straight at the gap youkai, screaming that war cry of his, then swings his sword with all his might when in range, but misses her by an inch and is showered with countless massive red bullets that clearly violate the spell card rules.

The spiky-haired boy shrugs off the damage like it was nothing at all and flies after the blonde, cutting some bullets with the diamond blade and taking the rest head on like they are nothing.

Yukari grimaces as she growls, understanding now what she's really up against, so she turns up the heat and adds thick laser beams that cut the air they travel through while she keeps avoiding the boy and raising her altitude.

Drake yelps whenever one of those red beams touches him, but he continues chasing after the gap youkai and swinging his sword at her whenever in range.

"**THAT'S IT!**", shouts the woman, canceling all her attacks and expelling so much energy even the godling is pushed back.

She opens a massive violet magical barrier circle behind herself and shouts "I haven't done this in an age little man! Be proud of witnessing it before your horrible inevitable death!"

Thunder and lightning strike above the woman, refreshing rain starts falling from the sky, progressing rapidly into a thick downpour that makes it almost impossible to see farther than five feet in front of your nose.

Yukari laughs almost manically, getting Drake's full attention, then shouts out loud "This is what Danmaku Bounded Field is supposed to be," then lowers her tone as she playfully finishes "without spell card limitations."

The boy grunts as he pushes his own limits to get closer to the woman before it's too late, but he fails.

He is now trapped between danmaku rings in a mile-wide sphere so full of bright indigo and purple bullets the only other things he can see are his limbs and the blonde's left shoulder.

From outside, the sphere looks like an impossibly massive purple round bullet that remains stationary only twenty feet in the air, but because of the thick rain, even the giant glowing orb is almost impossible to see.

Inside the orb the rain fails to reach, leaving the massive bullet-covered battlefield free from weather hindrances.

The gap youkai laughs triumphantly, then happily says "say hello to whatever judge is cursed to deal with **you** from my part."

The bullets start moving around in a constricting manner and the satisfied Yakumo laughs when she hears some bullets exploding, then she stops, her bullets flicker faster and faster until they disappear, the rain starts touching her head, meaning her barrier has also disappeared, and she starts feeling something cold on her shoulder.

Drake hovers next to her left, full of burn marks and bloody cuts all over his face and body from grazing through the powerful bullets, yet he smiles.

He has cut almost halfway down through her torso with a single swing of his blade and whispers "good always prospers over evil," as the inside of the blade gets filled with a white dust.

Yukari screams, her eyes bulge and expand and her pupils shrink when a burning and freezing sensation courses through her very bones.

She knows she's dying, and knows damned well if she doesn't do something she's as good as gone, so even with the pain she feels she moves her right hand and places it on Drake's face, then shoots the best possible magic bullet she can at the moment, which is significantly strong.

The boy screams as he his blasted away from the youkai sage, allowing her to fall to the ground, but being a persistent seasoned warrior he rushes after her, even though he's not fully recovered from that last blast that has left his right eye shut.

Yukari's body makes a loud thud, her blood splatters several feet away from her upon impact and mixes with the rainwater, and now the godling is just seconds away from stabbing her in stomach.

She raises her right hand again, a gap to the void opens up just as Drake is inches away, and screaming curses at Yukari the boy vanishes from sight and the gap closes up before he can escape.

The blond youkai's hair stains red with the blood that keeps gushing out of her cut and mixing with the rain, and all she can do now is lie there and breathe, while mentally praying for some help to arrive.

* * *

That rainy night, in the Hakurei Shrine's living room, Reimu taps her foot impatiently while staring straight at her guests; a temple nun, a pink fluffy cloud-man, and a shadow she doesn't like that much.

The fairies, celestial, Makaian, half-ghost and tengu all left before the maiden arrived, and by some miracle managed to get a new door for the storehouse outside, making any evidence of Rika's and Youmu's battle almost non-existent, yet the maid still feels the tengu is around.

"So, since we decided she's going to stay here I have to wonder, why are you still here, Miss nun?", asks the red and white maiden staring at her extra guest.

Ichirin gulps, blushes, and while looking down to the floor between her thigh she says "er, please be reasonable Hakurei. It's really pouring outside. And I forgot to bring my umbrella."

The maiden face-palms and sighs, then begrudgingly says "eh, fine, but I'll charge you a futon if you stay the night."

The nun youkai is left in shock, but quickly starts counting her coins, just in case, all while Kali stares silently in wonder.

Rika sighs, elegantly bends her neck a bit, then sighs "my lady, that's a little mean."

"KYAH! She's going to kill me again!", shrieks the shadow when the maid moves, and hides behind the light-blue haired girl as though begging for protection.

The estranged nun pats the shadow on the head and in a friendly tone says "now, now, Rika would never do that."

The shrine maid sighs and says "I've tried telling her I'm not going to kill her again, but she just won't believe me."

"Again?", hiccups the nun, to which the adorably sexy maid chuckles nervously, but before any explanation can commence, Reimu's face gets tenser than usual.

She shushes the girls, looks around herself, then softly says "that's odd. I feel Yukari around, but it's like she's... not here?"

Finally, the familiar gap with ribbons on the edges opens up next to Suzaku's perch, surprising the bird to fly away, then the blond youkai drops face-down like a load of lead to the floor.

"Yukari!", exclaims Reimu, who quickly takes notice of the sage's child-like body, meaning she's conserving energy, and the horrendous bloody gash on her shoulder.

Rika shrieks "goodness! My lady, she's wounded," and immediately hops on her feet to help the youkai sage.

Ichirin gasps while she covers her mouth, but follows Rika's lead and rushes forth to help along with Reimu, while Kali stays behind with Unzan and watches from a safe distance.

When they get closer they can hear the blonde whispering "Reimu help me, Reimu help me, Re-heimu help me," and wincing and twitching as she tries to turn over to look up.

The maid and the nun work together to turn the girl-like sage over.

Yukari can now see she's in safe hands and lets herself go, but before she completely passes out she manages to glance at the red and white maiden and whisper "sw- The sword."

Reimu analyzes the horrible wound on the gap youkai's body, her eyes spread, then she immediately rushes to her room.

Rika and Ichirin question the sudden leave, but quickly focus their concentration on the whimpering child-like-sage.

The maiden storms through the sliding door to her room, rushes to her closet, slides the door, then glances all around the base.

Nothing, save the floor, some boxes and some bloomers, the base of the closet is now empty.

"How?", questions the maiden with a whisper while tapping the floor with her hands, "how did he do it? It was here yesterday! Ran and Chen saw it! It was here, so where is it now?"

An hour later, Rika mops the floor from the remaining blood, while Ichirin and Unzan inspect the bandages around the sleeping Yukari's small body and Reimu sits in front of her small table, thinking hard about the disappearing sword.

"There," sighs the shrine maid after plunging the bloodied mop into its bucket. "The floor is nice and clean."

She turns around to look at the temple nun and says "that is a very good job Miss Ichirin."

The youkai chuckles and softly says "w-well, I've had a very recent experience."

She rolls her hood down as she sighs, then she looks around and says "well, the wound is pretty bad, but not lethal. She should be up and about in three days or so."

The pondering shrine maiden seems to ignore the girl, so the shrine maid answers for her "well that sounds wonderful. I'm sure my lady agrees."

From the sidelines Kali sits on the floor with Suzaku allowing to be pet by the shadowy guest, and said girl whistles and says "she's a tough cookie then. It would take me weeks to recover fully form something like that."

The vermillion bird whistles and says "_ah, just like when Rika-sama cut you up._"

The shadow girl twitches, then glowers at Rika while saying "yeah, like that. JUST like that."

Rika stares estranged at the shadow, then suspiciously at her familiar, but decides it's best not to know for now.

Reimu bangs her hands on the table and shouts "I just don't get it! How did he get that sword? Rika, you didn't see him come by, correct?"

The maid nods and says "the only visitors were the fairies, Miss Youmu and Miss Hatate. No one else came by."

"Not even Ail," murmurs the maiden before sighing and saying "well, whatever. We'll have to wait for Yukari to wake up and tell us what happened."

Her irritation suddenly escalates, and with an annoyed groan she says "ugh, now her shikigami will come here, and **stay**. Probably eat like beasts... but Ran's tea is worth all the trouble. And Chen might be good for chasing that mouse youkai away."

Ichirin and Unzan know this shrine maiden is talking about Nazrin, but decide to not say a word about it and just allow the maiden to keep elaborating.

Staring at Yukari, Rika shakes her head and says "my lady, if that Drake did **this **to Miss Yukari, what do you think he might do to you if you...?"

"I know, I know!", barks the maiden, making her maid twitch with fright.

She manages to clam herself down quicker than usual after seeing Rika jump with fright like that, then stares at Yukari's childlike body and calmly says "seems I'm going to need more help than I thought now that he's got his sword back."

The girls and Nyuudo in the room all stare worriedly at Reimu, then at Yukari.

Ichirin and Unzan feel particularly unsettled at the sight, remembering what that godling had done to Byakuren and Nue, and learning how he killed youkai without need.

Now they see with their own eyes how that monster has downed one of the most powerful youkai in Gensokyo, and probably the world, and count their blessings from being spared his wrath.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ayalina, Ail, Kyo, Kimi, Kali, Lina, Leon and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Rika's "Thunder Sign, Indignation no Shouou Jin'eizan (Divine Thunder Assault of Indignation) was created by Snapshot 2010

Japanese translations were done with help from Google Translate. Please forgive the errors that are surely there.

SEP 07 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Alright, another chapter done. Only two things I wish to mention. Patchy vs Koa catfight. I would have gone into more detail, but this is "T" rated, and decided to keep it that way. So I hope you at least had your fun imagining the actions and dirty tactics. Second, Yukari vs Drake. Originally, I was going to leave the bastard free, but I am liking this trapping him in a gap for two reasons. ONE would be to bring Ail's side-story up to date with Drake's so that when the two meet, there aren't that many hindrances in the way, and TWO, to make that battle more believable. This is YUKARI YAKUMO we're talking about. She's GOTTA have an escape tactic hidden around those arm gloves. Ah well, hope you are enjoying the story so far.**

**On an extra note, a shoutout at all my buddies at the Let's Danmaku forum! Because danmaku is the way of the future.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

It is a new, early morning at the Hakurei Shrine, and considering the events that took place the night before, it is a surprisingly peaceful new day.

A childlike Yukari sleeps peacefully on a futon in the living room, and to her left, the exceedingly kind shrine maid with small angel wings is wrapping the last of a fresh set of bandages around that terrible, slow-healing wound of hers.

Meanwhile, Kali sits on the very same spot from the night before, in front of the kitchen counters nearest to the living room, and continues to stare suspiciously at Rika, while at the same time keeping away from the maid and doing nothing to raise any kind alarm.

Even her plan to assassinate Reimu in her sleep has been aborted, just so that demonic maid, as she kindly calls her, doesn't have any reason to attack.

"Good morning," yawns the Shrine Maiden of Paradise as she exits her room, still in her white sleep robes.

She stretches her arms above her messy pillow-head, then looks over to her bed-ridden guest and asks "nothing yet?"

Her maid slowly shakes her head and sighs "nothing," then stands up with the bloodstained bandages she removed and says "she did manage a weak grunt when I changed these."

Before the indecent robed maiden with a bed-head can speak again, from the front of the shrine a girl calls "excuse us? Miss Hakurei, are you here?"

"Of course she's here Shizuha! This is her home," angrily says another girl's voice before demanding "hey, shrine maiden, we have a complaint here!"

The first voice gasps and says "Minoriko, I know you're... but... so don't...," but it's hard to tell what else she's saying as the tone of her voice lowers to a whisper.

Reimu growls as she covers her eyes with her hand, then sighs and slumps as though she's been thoroughly defeated and says "better go take a look."

Regardless of her current appearance, and the insistence of her maid to stop, the shrine maiden opens the front sliding doors, then stares flatly at her guests and mockingly says "well, a couple of goddesses have come to the Hakurei Shrine."

A few feet in front of the door, glaring at the mocking shrine maiden, is Minoriko Aki, the goddess of abundant harvest and with the breasts to prove it, who has short blonde hair under a red grape-adorned cap, red eyes, and wears a yellow blouse under an overall black dress and a light-orange apron.

Besides her is her older sister, Shizuha Aki, the goddess of turning leaves who loves humans, and has curvy blonde hair adorned with a red maple leaf on a black diadem, and wears a maple-red long-sleeved shirt with a matching skirt that has leaf-shape cuts on the bottom border, and a pair of white socks with black slippers.

"As rude as ever, shrine maiden," angrily says the bountiful girl.

Her older sister steps in between the girls, smiles nervously, then says "she meant to say 'good morning', and we've come to file a complaint, if you'd be so kind."

Minoriko shoves her sister aside, points at the maiden, then demands "that's right! It's your job to take care of these things, so pay attention!"

Reimu holds her gohei on her right hand and polishes it's tip with the left sleeve of her robe while nonchalantly replying "mm-hmm. How interesting."

Shizuha panics, places her sister's head in a lock, then nervously says "she's just very upset. Please forgive her. It's just that yesterday, when we arrived to our home, we found this boy wearing brown and a color-changing bandana next to our destroyed house."

Somehow, the bouncy little sister breaks free from her older sister's hold and furiously says "he completely destroyed out beautiful home with that THICK head of his, then just smiles and waves at us before flying away, leaving us to sleep under that insane **rain!**"

The shrine maiden holds her forehead and squeezes hard as she growls inward, then, sounding annoyed and disgusted, manages to say "that Drake again."

"AH-HAH! So you DO know him!", shouts the plentiful girl while pointing at the shrine maiden and bouncing her pearls with every move.

"Minoriko-chan, it's rude to point," angrily whispers the leafy girl.

The younger goddess growls inward as she glares dangerously at her older sister, who crosses her arms under her chest and glares back, asserting her position as the eldest sister.

Minoriko pouts while crossing her arms over her chest, but quiets down and backs away.

Shizuha approaches the maiden in sleep robes, then says "well, that's our story. Can you help us teach that cretin a lesson?"

To the young goddesses' surprise, Reimu nods and says "sure. He's got a pretty long list of complaints, so I'll just add yours to the list and bop him a good one in your names."

The two blondes stare at the maiden in shock, surprised by her answer, and as though some switch was flicked inside the goddess of bounty, she smiles merrily as she gleefully says "well, thank you very much Miss Reimu!"

The older sister steps forward, smiling dearly at the robed maiden, cupping her hands under her chin as she softly says "you are very kind Miss Reimu. Thank you so much."

The Hakurei is thoroughly disgusted after witnessing such behavior from a pair of goddesses, but prefers to silently waves her fingers while frowning at the girls with a twitching right eye.

Inside the shrine, while her lady deals with the morning guests, Rika approaches Kali and asks "I'm going to start breakfast. Is there anything you'd like?"

The shadow's eyes bulge with fright and she shivers while saying "n-n-no way! G-g-get away! You just want to poison me with my favorite food!"

The angel-winged maid sighs as her smile turns to a sad frown, and says "if I could just show you I mean you no harm. I swear, last time was just a big misunderstanding."

There is a short pause, the shadow girl doesn't look like she's going to accept the maid's excuses any time soon, so with another sigh Rika walks straight into the kitchen and says "well please remember that while your powers remain sealed, please count on me for support."

The white-haired girl stares at the back of the maid through the corner of the counter, wondering if she's being a bitch, of if that maid is just trying to get her defenses down for a quick kill.

Regardless, she can feel a bit of her powers returning to her, and smiles at the thought of finally leaving that shrine.

* * *

Later that morning, after stomachs have been filled and maidens have dressed properly, another call takes the silent tranquility that never is the Hakurei Shine.

"Hello~ Miss Reimu, Miss Rika~," calls the familiar voice of Ran Yakumo, promptly accompanied by little Chen's "hi~ We're here~! Now where's Yukari-sama, you fiends!"

There are no grunts or complaints, no annoyed moans or greetings; the left-side door of the shrine slides open from within, and without looking outside Reimu says "she's over here."

The nine-tailed fox's ears bend back as she thinks "_ugh, I hate it when my gut's right about something being wrong,_" and stops along with the nekomata, pushes her shoulder back, then sternly says "Chen, wait for me here and come in only after I tell you."

The little cat girl wants to question her master, but she knows questioning her when her eyes are so intense is dangerous, so she just nods and softly says "don't make me wait too long, please."

Ran nods, then walks straight to the open doors and enters the shrine.

She gasps at the sight of Yukari's childlike form lying so perfectly still in that futon and wrapped in bandages, then shouts "Yukari-sama! Yukari-sama, what happened?", as she rushes straight at her master.

She ignores Reimu, Rika and Suzaku perching on the maid's shoulder to the fox's right and the quiet shadow to her left, and fails to notice when her curious little nekomata peeks her head through the corner of the open door.

The fox youkai kneels beside her master, gently touches her forehead with the back of her hand, then looks at the red and white maiden and worriedly asks "what happened to her?"

Reimu thinks fast and hard, then asks "Ran, you remember that sword in my closet, right? Drake's sword?"

The blonde fox nods, then the shrine maiden continue "seems that pain-in-the-ass god got it back, right from under my nose, and cut Yukari with it. That's all she could tell me before passing out."

Seems like a light-bulb just went off inside the shikigami's head when she spasm with delight, then sighs and places her hands on her master's shoulders.

She closes her eyes and a dim light can be seen by all but the peeking nekomata and the shadow girl enveloping both fox and gap-sage before it all goes into and around the little girl in the futon and dims.

"Quite the handy trick," comments the shrine maiden, looking as casual and unimpressed as ever.

Ran raises her head, her face shows she's tired from that, but sounds normal as she nods and says "I do what I have to," then looks to her peeking shikigami and says "it's alright Chen, you can come in now."

The cat-girl looks surprised and ashamed due to her master's face, but upon getting closer she realizes she's not being glowered at, that it's just the fox looking exhausted.

Yukari moans as she starts to move inside her futon, then stretches her arms and winces when the pain from her wound registers in her system again.

"Whoa, wait a moment. Please don't move too much," exclaims Rika as she promptly rushes to assist the wounded girl.

The little girl is wide awake and looking around herself, then smiles and cockily says "hey, I'm not bad at all. Made it to the shrine after all."

Drops of sweat roll down all the present girls' heads, then Reimu apprehensively says "well, it seems she's already back to her old self. How great."

"Please don't go sealing her. She's weak," comments the fox.

The black-haired maiden smiles as she says "it's alright, it's alright. Besides, I'd very much like to know what happened."

The little blond gasps, sits upright, ignoring Rika's requests to lie down, then excitedly says "Reimu! Reimu! I fought with that Drake! What a pain in the ASS he is!"

The red and white armpit maiden rolls her eyes, then says "yes, you did tell us that much last night. Now could you tell us what exactly happened?"

Tiny Yukari grumbles, but rapidly composes herself and says "he can absorb magic, but his capabilities to do so are very limited, but is still dangerous. I hit him with everything Reimu, but he's like some sort of masochist! He just kept coming after me, even when I blasted his eyes out!"

From outside the mansion, Tenshi's voice rings loud as she calls "hello Hakurei Shrine girls! It's your favorite celestial coming to visit!"

"Tenshi!", happily exclaims Rika before sweetly calling "in here."

The celestial enters the shrine, looks around at the many guests, then says "didn't know the circus was in town."

Hateful glares hit the celestial cutie from several sides, but Reimu ignores her to ask "Yukari, how the hell did Drake get his sword? It was right here the day before!"

"He summoned it back to himself," irritably replies the little blonde before growling and adding "I knew he gave it up too easily. I should have known something like this would happen!"

From outside the shrine, Marisa calls "oi, Reimu~ I came to play, ze!"

She walks in uninvited, looks around at the guests, then says "ah, I see. Just another day at Hakurei Shrine."

"Miss Marisa, welcome back," sweetly greets the angelic maid.

"Don't point out the obvious so early in the morning. You're gonna give me a headache," irritably groans the shrine maiden.

The black and white witch grins annoyingly as she takes a seat beside her shrine maiden friend, then whispers "so, it's story time?"

Reimu quickly whispers back "you better listen to this. I might need your help."

"Master," snaps Ran to get Yukari's attention. "What happened to Drake? What should we do about him? Why are you still bleeding?"

The little girl sighs, tries to cross her arms but grimaces from the pain on her shoulder, then clears her throat and says "I'll begin by saying, that sword can kill anyone and anything without questioning its master. It's perfectly balanced with light and darkness, so this warning includes annoying celestials!"

Before Tenshi can complain, the little girl continues "the wound he inflicted on my shoulder will take a few days to heal because of that. The fills up with a mist that represents the counter affinity of the one being cut by it, and when the blade is full, the sorry soul being touched by that blade will die."

"And for now," she says while looking straight at Reimu, "we do nothing about him."

Expressions of confusion fill the entire room, then, surprisingly enough, Chen asks "what did Yukari-shama do to the bad god?"

The little blonde gap youkai smiles sweetly at her shikigami's shikigami and says "what a bright little kitty you are, Chen. He is currently trapped inside the void."

She can see the many faces already calming down, so she grins mischievously as she says "oh, but don't relax just yet. He may be trapped in the void, but it's only a matter of time until he figures he can use those god-powers of his to get back out."

"Reimu," she continues sinisterly "he is going to get out of there, and when he does, he's going to be mad as hell, and he'll be going **straight** to that vampire's mansion. You all need to be ready to take him down before he causes irreversible damage."

As the little girl Yukari glares around the room she can see many worried faces, particularly that of Kali, whom for some reason, feels there is something particularly wrong about that Drake, and now, as she looks at Rika's face, is considering her feelings toward the maid.

* * *

Moments later, Ail, Budou with little Phredia on her shoulder, and Sanae, land behind the shrine's gate, with the blue and white maiden complaining "we would have gotten here faster if you'd just open a gap."

The boy growls, suppressing a desire to shout at the green-haired girl, but manages to just dangerously whisper "I told you, there's something wrong with the damned gaps! I can't open them right now."

Before the uncomfortable little bat can speak, from the shrine's stairs Medicine loudly calls "hey! Lazy maideeeeen! It is true that gap girl is dead?"

There is a bonk and a complaint from the doll, then Ail smiles when he hears the voice of his old friend, Kyo, angrily saying "don't start unnecessary fights yet! Let **me** rile her a bit before that!"

"Oy, Kyo!", calls the dense one.

As soon as the three heads of the poison doll youkai and her winged doll, the bulky boy, and the silver-haired woman, Luna, peek over the last steps, said boy raises his hand and calls "Ail, buddy! It's been a while!"

After a brief greeting from the parties, the silver-haired woman asks "you guys here because of that rumor about Yukari?"

The dense one and his girlfriend nod, and with a low tone of voice the boy says "I still can't believe what I heard. This is Yukari we're talking about."

"Well my cute little man," playfully says Reimu from the veranda, "why don't you come here and see for yourself?"

The two parties walk over to greet the shrine maiden, and one-by-one enter through the doorway and gasp at the sight or Ran changing the childlike Yukari's bloody bandages for fresh ones.

Budou gasps and buries her face in Sanae's stomach, then Phredia pops right out of her chest before getting trapped between them and gently rubs the little girl's ear for comfort.

"Whoa, Aya was RIGHT! The big girl herself fell after all," comments Medicine, walking past Luna and getting a handful of bloody bandages by the fox, who angrily says "please discard of these, quietly!"

The last to enter are Kyo and Ail, and when the dense one enters through that doorway the little gap youkai smiles as she holds her covers up against her naked body and exclaims "my, my, my, so many visitors. This is so unexpected. Ran, I didn't know I was this popular."

The shikigami lowers her ears as she irritably says "yes, yes. Please hold still while I wrap these bandages and put your clothes back on."

Outside the shrine, Chen urges Budou to follow after her, and after a quick nod of ascent from the blue and white armpit maiden, the little bat hurries out those doors, almost whimpering with fright at the sight of that wound.

The muscle boy growls, looks at his woman and sternly says "Luna, we're going to have to take Byakuren's offer. If that bastard did this to Yuk-""

"Wait just a minute," angrily interrupts the red and white maiden. "If you still think you're going after that godling, then you got another thing coming! He is too much for you-"

"Don't underestimate us Hakurei," immediately snaps the angry boy.

The childlike blond chuckles and casually says "hey, you guys, he's in the void, remember Reimu?", though nobody seems to pay attention to her, though it's a good thing so Ran can dress her up properly.

Sanae watches with concern as her dense boyfriend grips his right wrist as though wanting to wring it off, and asks "Ail-kun, what's the matter?"

"What's the matter?", asks the boy in a sinisterly low tone of voice.

As he looks around a shadow covers his lower lids, his usually brownish-gold eyes seem to glow red, and as he glares at his golden blessed bracelet he angrily says "this shit! This stupid little shit didn't WARN me of Yukari! It's been malfunctioning for a while! Yes, the gods turned on me, didn't they?"

Even the little gap youkai watches suspiciously and silently as the dense boy continues looking at that bracelet with hatred, then Marisa suddenly snaps "hey, man-boy! What's wrong there, ze?"

Ail shakes his head as though snapping out of his own thoughts and looks around the shrine as though just getting there and having no clue as to how he did.

He glances over to his girlfriend and asks "Sa-Sanae? Wh-why are we-?", then glances over the two Yakumo and says "oh, right. Yukari."

The little gap youkai raises an eyebrow and smiles, then whispers something to her shikigami before saying "say, green-haired maiden, why don't you take your boy out for some fresh air?"

Long before Sanae can reply to that, Reimu already holds Ail by his right arm, and placing her head on his shoulder she blissfully says "come on dearie. Let's go get some fresh air by ourselves."

Sanae roars with rage, but before she can make her move, Mima pops like a bubble behind the dense boy, smacks his back hard and sends him flying out the room and face-first onto a tree.

Kyo, Medicine and Luna stare in shock, blink twice, then the muscled boy whistles and says "that's one hell of a pat-on-the-back."

"Hunk~!" sings the evil spirit as she flies over to the boy, totally ignoring the red and white's and blue and white's complaints for the dense one.

She immediately clings around the boy's neck, squeezes him tight, then says "oh my, someone's been working out hard I see," then squeezes tighter while giggling and blushing pink.

Luna wants nothing more than to flick that woman off of her man like a booger, but she takes a deep breath and thinks "_I'm younger, than this hag. He's still mine, so don't make a show._"

The dense boy walks through the door with help from both Reimu and Sanae, growling with every breath while the girls have a tug-of-war with his arms, and smiles disturbingly viciously at the evil spirit while saying "Mima. Good morning there."

The green-haired spirit flies over to the dense boy, gets her face close to him, then grins mischievously and says "lookin' good there Ail. Say, how's that spleen treating ya?"

Tension rises so high in the room that Yukari and Ran stop their whispering and plotting just to look over at the hatefully glaring boy and the mischievous evil spirit.

Ail sighs, smiles as he shakes his head, then says "actually, I'm doing fine. Just came to see Yukari."

"Good, good," coos Mima, then she turns the boy around to face outside and says "so you came and you saw Yukari. Now be a good boy and **leave** before something regrettable happe-AUGH!"

A red and white seal smacks itself right on the spirit's forehead, causing her enough pain to make her writhe around and dance around the room in an attempt to remove it.

Reimu stands beside the incredibly dense boy with her gohei on her right hand and several seals on her left and furiously says "mind your manners you old spirit, or I'm sending you to meet with the Yama in a matchbox!"

Sanae holds her boy around the shoulders, softly asking "Ail-kun, you've been acting so strange. What's wrong?", unable to notice the success smirk on his face and the triumphantly evil glint in his eyes.

He casually turns to the green-haired maiden, chuckles, then says "I'm sorry sweetie, I think I'm just tired. Didn't sleep well last night."

* * *

While the shrine maidens, the boy and the spirit resume their odd conversation outside, Kyo approaches the young-looking Yukari and Ran.

As he does, he manages to hear them whispering something about Ail.

"His meddling affected... so it's not just Reimu..." he hears the childlike gap youkai whisper.

"But Yukari-sama... then that means... also himself..." desperately whispers the fox.

The muscled boy gets closer and manages to hear Yukari say clearly "once I recover, you and I will go to the Yama."

She notices the eavesdropper and smiles while asking "so you heard? Erm, can you keep quiet about this? I really don't want to kill you today."

Kyo shakes his head and honestly says "um, no, I didn't really hear much. Look, I just need to know about Drake. What happened to him? What did you mean when you said he was in the void?"

The little blonde smiles, gestures Ran to step aside, and looking at the spiky-haired boy and his woman, who now stands by his side, on the eyes, she happily says "he went in over his head and tried to finish me off, so I opened a gap on his face and sent him to the void."

The frown from the two humans surprises the gap youkai, and with a grin on her face she says "oh, don't look so disappointed. He would have killed you three anyway. The magic siphoning ability of his is a pain in the ass, and would have done you in immediately, Kyo."

Luna grabs her muscular man and wraps him around her arms while shouting "no way in hell I would have allowed that! **I'd have killed him, then killed him again!**"

The girl's shouting gets the attention of the shrine's guests, and from outside, sounding a lot more like his normal self, Ail asks "hey, what's going on? What's with all the shouting?"

Medicine chuckles, and as she looks to Su-San she jokingly says "seems Luna can't live without her man's-" but long before she can finish her sentence, she is showered by rainbow-colored kunai and screams as she falls on her back.

Kyo sighs, feeling greatly disappointed, then turns around to face his friend and the shrine maidens and says "well, that bastard's in the void. We failed Eintei. Best thing we can do now is report back to them."

"Oh~" coos Yukari while smiling, successfully getting everyone's attention, thus brightening her smile, then says "I did say he was in the void, didn't I. I never said he was in there forever."

Even Marisa, who was poking the moaning poison doll with her broom, turns a cold and frightened stare at the young-looking border sage and asks "so you weren't kidding before?"

"O-ho my, no," coos the little blonde.

"How long do we have to prepare?", asks Sanae.

"The real question, dear Kochiya, is what do we do to beat him", says Reimu as she stares straight at Yukari and Ran, then finishes "he still has the powers of a god, and you know damned well how tough you guys are."

The little blonde girl's grin turns to a frown as she ominously says "I don't know how long he'll remain in there, and nothing we do now will prepare us for him. All we can do is be ready for when we find him," she looks to Kyo "**and attack together**," then looks at Ail and says "or he'll take down that mansion in a heartbeat."

Ail's face almost morphs to something ghost-like as he takes a deep breath and visualizes the Scarlet Devil Mansion razed to the ground by a demented boy with an overpowered sword, and as though possessed by a demon he furiously screams "if he touches anyone in there, **I will make him see hell!**"

Everyone knows he has a strong attachment to that mansion and those that live there, and though she hates that fact, the blue and white maiden places her hand on his back to show her support.

The muscle-shirted boy turns his sight from Ail and turns to Yukari, then asks "do you at least know where he might appear?"

The blonde shakes her head, to which Luna sighs irritably and says "that brat is a real pain in the ass."

"I'll ask Moriya-sama and Yasaka-sama for help," begins Sanae, rubbing Ail's back and calming him down. "They should be able to match him."

The gap sage raises an eyebrow and scoffs, to which the Moriya Shrine Maiden furiously asks "what with that lack of faith?"

The little girl taps her shikigami with her elbow, then Ran hurriedly says "um, Drake is a god-in-training, and other gods cannot interfere with him," and looks to her mistress and asks "did I get that right?"

The little Yakumo smiles, softly claps her hands beside her cheeks and says "marvelous my dear Ran, you did excellent," then turns to Reimu and her many guests and says "we're on our own here. Only if he **really** goofs up and attacks a shrine or a human village would other gods intervene."

The red and white maiden remains serene as she looks back at the youkai sage, then nods and says "then we prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Anyway, this won't the first time I have to punish a god. If you guys can't, I'll beat him for you."

Yukari giggles, then happily says "that's the spirit!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, a missed sense of blissful peace envelops the library, and with Leon sleeping while sitting on her lap, Patchouli quietly reads her book with her small rectangular white glasses while holding the boy's head with her hand.

Hiding somewhere around the northern section of said library, Koakuma and Lina nap inside their individual futons.

Well, at least that was the initial plan, and though the ice girl's futon is there, it is completely undisturbed while she sleeps with the little demon on that one futon.

The figure of Remilia Scarlet walks silently through the hall of bookshelves leading to the entrance, bearing an odd look of curiosity on her face.

She approaches the purple-haired librarian who says "please don't start a ruckus. It's a strangely peaceful day today, and I'd like it to remain as such."

"Not today. No, today is a boring day, and so it shall remain," gracefully replies the vampire as she takes a seat in front of her long-time friend.

She sits across that table and places her head on her hands after placing her elbows on the table, and stares.

After a long pause of quiet staring, the aggravated librarian lowers her book and apprehensively asks "what? Do I have something on my face?"

She looks down at the **very lucky** sleeping ice boy resting his head on her breasts, fumes as she growls at her mistress, then says "don't start with that, Remi!"

The elder Scarlet shakes her head, her face becomes cold and serious, then she says "Patchy, you know what they are. You two are getting too attached, too quickly. I never really expected this of you, so stop it."

"What are you talking about?", asks the magician after resting her book to the table to pull down on her glasses with her now-free hand.

The little vampire looks surprised, obviously not expecting that answer, and absentminded, she asks "wait? Seriously? You really don't know?"

Irritation takes the magician's usually-calm face as she glares back at her friend as though she's just been thoroughly offended, but Remilia simply raises her left brow and the magician relaxes.

She lowers her brow as she softly says "my friend, these children aren't youkai, human, or spirit. They are elemental echoes that took on a physical body."

The librarian holds her mouth as she laughs so as not to wake Leon, and continues to do so until she looks at Remilia's cold face, and her lips frown as she asks "wait, you're serious? B-but Remi, I would have-I mean, I should have noticed! R-right?"

The vampire says nothing as she continues to stare at the Kori boy and the librarian.

"Th-that wasn't funny. Don't joke around like that again," says the purple magician.

Remilia shakes her head lightly, then softly says "I wasn't joking. Come winter those two will disappear and return to their original states. Maybe snow, maybe flakes. Who knows."

Patchouli remains dumbstruck, staring at nothing while several thoughts cross her mind, and then finally, in hopes to find a legitimate defense against the Scarlet's revelations, she points and says "a-ha! You are joking. Face it! If what you say is true, these two would have been born in winter!"

"It was the beginning summer when they came to us, so your theory is impossible!", finishes the magician.

The young-looking vampire raises her wings slightly as she smiles and says "your experiment drove the winter spirits mad, you caused a tiny winter the night they were born! From what Reimu and I were able to understand, that, mixed with a broken border around that ice fairy, caused the birth of these two."

She sighs as she stands back up, walks over to her friend and places her hand on said girl's shoulder and says "I'm sorry, I just wanted you to be ready for when it happened. Can't have my servants drag their work due to misplaced overwhelming sadness."

There is no reply, so Remilia shrugs with a nonchalant expression, then turns around to leave.

As soon as she's away from earshot the purple-haired librarian rubs the boy's light-blue hair and whispers "this was completely unexpected. To throw a bomb like that-!"

She sighs as she looks around her library, hoping an answer would come to her, then says "maybe there's something I can do."

Up in her hiding place, Koakuma doesn't seem affected from what she's overheard, and yet tightens her grip on the Kori-girl and gently scratches her head while staring forward.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the lake behind the Hakurei Shrine, Suzaku has the shivering Yuki wear a pink ribbon around the neck, and the poor blonde looks just about ready to crack, yet again.

Rika and Tenshi watch from the side, while Genjii entertains Budou, a nervous Chen and Phredia with rides around the lake, and Kali remains silent near the maid's left, studying the girl with every glance.

The vermilion bird perches on the Makaian's thigh and lightly pecks the girl on the temple before saying "_it's just a color. It's not burning or strangling you. It is only a color. My beak does more harm, correct?_"

The witch shivers and whimpers, glances around as though inside her own little world, then she jumps off her butt and onto her feet and screams "get it off! GET IT OFF!", while trying to rip the ribbon off and chocking herself in the process.

"Oh dear," sighs the shrine maid as she gets up.

She rushes straight at her sister, grabs her hands before she really chokes herself, the commands "Suzaku!", and the bird caws as though sighing, grabs one of the ribbon's strands and gently pulls it free.

Kali laughs while the blonde breathes as though for the first time, and Tenshi almost succumbs to laughing as well, but a glance by Rika stops both girls, and the shadow jumps to the celestial's hands and cries "I DIDN'T DO IT!"

The angel-winged maid can only sigh and shake her head while holding on to her forehead to express her disappointment.

The red bird now approaches Yuki, stares into her yellow eyes, then asks so that her master can hear as well "_I just don't understand. What in the world do you see inside that head of yours that freaks you out like that? You were doing so well just now._"

She shrine maid rubs her chin while pondering, then telepathically says "_maybe we should call it a day Suzu-chan. She's clearly unable to go on._"

"_Forgive me Rika-sama,_" begins the bird as she perches on Yuki's head and forces her to sit with several wing-flaps, "_but sopping now will not help her. There's something in there tormenting that mind, and I promised to help her with it._"

"It's that creepy woman, alright? That EVIL, bubbly, creepy woman from the sunflower fields! W-w-with that PINK FETISH OF HERS! UGH!", shouts the frustrated witch.

If Suzaku had lips, she would be smiling as she says "_and there we go!_"

She flies on to Yuki's right shoulder and rubs her soft feathered head against the witch's cheek to both congratulate her and comfort her while saying "_with this knowledge, I am sure we'll be able to cure you of this phobia you have. But still, I don't know exactly what we are dealing with, so with yours, and Rika-sama's permission, I'd like to go and peek into that memory of yours._"

The witch seems to panic, her face turns blue, and the sudden giggles from Budou and Chen seem to unsettle her a little more.

Rika crosses her arms under her chest, reluctant to the idea, and hesitantly says "um, I don't know about that Suzaku. That's a too little invasive. Maybe there's something else."

From the sidelines, Kali raises an eyebrow as she looks to the maid, and the more she observes, the more curious she seems to get.

Noticing this, Tenshi smacks the shadow's back and says "yup, she's that good you idiot. I don't really know why you're so afraid of her, but as long as you don't piss her off, or make her cry, she'll treat you like a sister."

The shadow of a shadow youkai remains silent, staring unblinking at the maid in question, then slowly turns to her shadow form to test her powers, yet stops to observe the maid some more.

"Do it," whispers Yuki with a resolute tone of voice.

The maid and her bird turn their full attention back on the witch, who says a little louder "go in there and see for yourself, what that woman did to me! She was a nightmare!"

Rika and Suzaku share surprised and worried glances, then nod as the vermillion bird's eyes begin to glow brighter than usual.

She takes flight and remains hovering in front of the witch while saying "_alright then. Since you're a magical being too, it should be easy to share memories, so without further hesitation..._"

The red bird locks her eyes on Yuki's while Rika whispers "no, no, dear sis. Look into her eyes, not her wings."

Seems the maid's sweet voice does the trick, because the second she stops talking the witch relaxes, feels like she's drifting into a dream, and the memories begin to flow.

Suzaku finds herself inside a large house, where from the windows, several dead sunflowers seem to be peaking inside.

Around the house she sees Okuu, wearing a pink bow and dress, a pot that keeps shaking about, notes and diaries written in pink, and finally, a woman that looks just like Yuka, only her smile seems more sinister, and her clothes are pink instead of red.

The alternate Yuka grabs the witch and strips her from her black clothes almost instantly, and though Yuki screams as she tries to break free, the woman just giggles and holds her painfully tighter, then everything turns black.

Moments later, the vermilion bird can see when the Makaian wakes up with that woman still all over her, kissing her and hugging her so tight her ribs are starting to crack, and out of despair, the blonde witch manages to blast the offending woman's face, and even though in pain that woman playfully calls "wait, I still haven't fondled you enough!"

Suzaku stops looking into the girl's mind and squawks with surprise when she sees that blonde girl shedding tears like a terrified child in front of herself and crying "y-you see? T-that pink bitch i-is, *gulp* was sick!"

Rika's warm hands gently caress the witch's face, and soon after Yuki finds herself being warmly embraced by the maid and comforted as though it were Shinki.

The angelic maid softly shushes her sister and says "it's ok, that mean shadow woman is long gone. I'm here now. You may cry on me all you want."

Without realizing it, the fire witch starts to bawl "WAAAAAAAH~ She scared me! She scared me and nobody came! She hurt me and wrapped me in pink!"

Suzaku looks at her master and asks "_so you could see everything I was transmitting, master?_"

The shrine maid nods and the Bird of Vermilion seems to smile before saying "_I believe now is a very good time for her to rest, Rika-sama._"

Budou, with Phredia on her shoulder, and Chen walk closer to the scene, looking curiously at the sobbing Makaian, then the little bat asks "wh-what's wrong with Miss Yuki? Did she get hurt?"

Rika smiles, still rubbing her Makaian sister's head, and says "yes, I'm afraid dear Yuki got hurt. But it's alright. She's going to be alright now."

Suzaku tweets and says for all to hear "_oh yes. Now that we know what we're dealing here with, I am sure Miss Yuki will be alright in just a few days._"

The two little girls aw at the sight, join in the hug, then Chen playfully says "Ran-sama makes me feel better, sometimes, when she hugs me. Though most times it bugs me. Heh-heh."

From the sideline, Kali softly asks "but aren't they youkai? Shouldn't they be afraid of that killer maid?"

Tenshi growls after her friend got insulted, but manages to smile while saying "you moron, can't you see? She loves them all. She won't attack them for no reason."

From the left, Genjii adds "inadequate as this celestial may seem, she's right. I do happen to know what happened between you and that girl over there, and let me tell you, it was something she could not control at the time."

He can see the doubt in the eyes of the shadow and promptly adds "just give it some time, young lady. Get to know the real Rika. Who knows, she might even help you out of a jam."

The celestial chuckles, smiling while staring dreamily at her friend, resting her head on her crossed arms on her raised knees and says "that's the kind of girl she is. No matter if you're a mean little bitch, she will always see the good side in you. Incorrigible maid."

Kali stands and takes two wide steps away from Tenshi, staring at her with a raised eyebrow while saying "erm, yeah, you keep away from me weirdo."

A vein pulsates on the blue-haired girl's forehead, and though she smiles she threateningly asks "do you want me to smash your face with a keystone?"

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere over the Youkai Forest, Minoriko and Shizuha Aki overlook the final stages of the completion of their house, which is being rebuilt by shirtless muscled young human and youkai males in black and dark blue overalls.

Between them is Hina Kagiyama, the spinning doll-goddess that picks **your** misfortunes and keeps them away.

She has long aquamarine hair she ties with a red ribbon in front of her chest, aquamarine eyes, a large frilly bow on her head, wears a red dress with the spiral symbol of misfortune in aquamarine sewed onto the right of her lower skirt, a large white neckerchief, a pair of long black boots, and wraps another frilly ribbon around her right arm like a bandage of sorts.

The spinning goddess drools at the sight of the working men and asks "however did you manage such luck?"

The younger, more abundant of the Aki, grins as she replies "it was our divine presence. Nothing to it."

The older, less abundant, yet sweeter of the Aki, giggles as she turns her head to their guest and with a drooling smile she says "we asked them for help and said we were cute enough to do it for free."

She sighs afterward, turns her blushing face toward the workers, then giggly says "oh, how I'd love to eat them all up right now."

Ignoring this, Hina stares at Minoriko's chest, points at her breasts, then says "so, it was the boobs after all."

Before the younger flushed Aki can reply to that, the boys stand in front of the finished hose and pose, flexing their biceps, while the shortest amongst them says "we're done here. She's sturdy enough to take on a rock, yet gentle enough for a pair of sweet ladies such as yourselves."

With that the men bow and leave, one of them saying "see you around Shizuha-san!", before out of earshot

The two goddesses stare at the older Aki with surprise, then Minoriko furiously demands "hey! How did you do that? I didn't see you flirting! Why didn't you hook **ME **up, you traitor?"

Shizuha sighs, shakes her head, then says "I tried to sis, but you said they were all sweaty and icky, and you didn't want anything to do with them."

The young autumn goddess whines loudly and slumps, so to cheer her up the goddess of misfortune grabs the girls' hands and cheerfully says "come, I'll make you my special tea on the new oven those delicious burly men assembled for you."

The Autumn goddesses smile, the three girls take one step forward, then Hina yelps when a washtub falls on her head.

She moans as she gets up on her feet, looks around, then asks "wh-?" and another washtub, this one of silver, falls with a clang on her head and knocks her out.

Minoriko panics and shouts "aiee~! Miss Hina!"

Shizuha grabs the spinning girl's hand and commands "hurry, let's take her to the strong-men poster room!"

"Right behind you," replies the younger sister, and as she picks Hina by the other hand and rushes inside the house she declares "and that's my room, you traitor!"

* * *

It is now noon at the Hakurei Shrine, and Kyo, Luna and Medicine have already left back to the village.

Ail has tried over and over to activate his Yozoragan blood limit to heal Yukari, but something keeps impeding him from doing so, and this has him frustrated to no ends.

He sighs in defeat to calm himself down just as Budou and Chen run back inside the shrine, then says "ah, Budou, perfect timing. It's time to go."

"Aww, but I wanted to play danmaku with Chen," complains the little bat.

The dense one chuckles before replying "no buts young lady. It's time we get out of Reimu's hair."

"I don't mind~" sings the shrine maiden from the kitchen.

Marisa sits with Mima by the table, and chuckles while saying "silly maiden's still in puppy-love mode, ze."

The evil spirit smiles to hide the vile rage swelling inside of her, yet her ominous voice fails to hide this as she says "yeah. Puppy-love."

She raises her sight to meet the red and white's gaze and says "hey Reimu, just let them go home already."

Mima blinks for one second, Ail grunts, and the next second she finds the Hakurei Maiden clinging on to the dense boy's back, cooing contently while said boy angrily says "hey, get off! Reimu, that's not funny!"

Sanae approaches her love rival with gohei on hand, emanating a dangerous aura about her, and roars "got off him, NOW!"

A swing and a miss when the red and white armpit maiden pushes herself off of the dense boy's back and lands gently on top of her table and says "butt out evil spirit. And you, Moriya, one more wrong move and I'm breaking your arms!"

From the corner on the ground little Yukari pat's the nervous Budou's head and angrily says "hey, calm down. You're scaring the little girl."

Everyone in the room stares oddly at the childlike youkai sage, then from the kitchen Ran nonchalantly says "it's not a pun, she really means it. Relax already."

Ail shakes his head, shrugs, then calmly calls "come on Budou, you and Phredia go first," then opens a slightly unstable, but reliable blue gap leading straight to the Moriya Shrine.

The little bat places her hands on her chest and says "let's go Phredia-chan," then runs straight into the gap and continues running straight into the shrine's living room.

"Come on Sanae, you next," calls the boy.

The blue and white keeps her eyes on Reimu as she slowly makes her way backward into the gap, only to stop to listen to the black-haired girl whisper "be a good little pet green maiden, and go home like you're told."

The taunt worked and Sanae storms toward her rival and grumbles "your petty jealousy is getting on my last nerve, **Hakurei.**"

The Hakurei maiden hops off the table and presses her forehead against the well-endowed maiden's and grumbles "maybe you and I should play danmaku for keeps! What do you say?"

Both girls yelp when bolts of lightning surround them.

The bolts come from Mima's hand, who looks furiously at Ail as she hovers over the table and demands "Ail, get your damned self and your girlfriend OUT of here before I beat your ass again!"

"**WHAT?**" furiously exclaim the two maidens, and at that very same time there is an odd **VWOSH**, and the boy exclaims "oh great, not the gap-thing again!"

From her futon, Yukari grins and whispers to herself "u-fu-fu~ Interesting. The disturbance is affecting his abilities with the borders."

Ran kneels beside her master and asks "should I take you somewhere safer and quieter?"

The little blonde girl chuckles, looks up at her shikigami, then says "are you NUTS? This is like one of those soap operas on TV! I'm not missing this!"

From beneath her sheets, a quivering mass with Chen's voice says "please tell me when it's over," then the vixen youkai sighs and says "come on Chen, let's get **you** to a safer room then."

Back at the center of the action, from behind her imprisonment, Reimu furiously shouts "so you **DID** do something that day! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY AIL?"

"It was nothing! We just talked," irritably says the boy in question from the background.

Ignoring her boy, Sanae furiously shouts "you butt out of this shrine maiden, Ail-kun is MY man! And you, green and blue! What did you do to my Ail?"

"Mima, let me just take Sanae and run!", demands Ail from the background.

Completely ignoring him, the evil spirit glares at the girls and says "I gave him the beating he deserved! He messed with things he **should** have never even thought of messing with!", then grins vilely as she adds "oh, and to make it extra satisfying for myself, I did it without spell cards hindering my powers!"

"Oh crap! You just want to be sent to hell, I just know it!", comments the boy on the background, to which Marisa replies for her master "oi, she'd rule that place in an instant, ze."

Reimu throws several charms forward, while Sanae finishes a chant that made her gohei spin in mid air, and both maiden break through Mima's magic with ease, forcing a surprised shriek from said spirit in the process.

They both place their left foot forward, point at the evil spirit struggling to get up from the floor, then say "**you're going to pay for hurting MY Ail!**"

They turn to each other and the red and white exclaims "excuse me, you can just go home! This is between me and the bitchy specter!"

The blue and white stomps her left foot and shouts "that's it! Ail-kun is mine, he's always been mine, and you've been doing this to piss me off! Well you've DONE it! Outside, right now Hakurei!"

The black-haired maiden nods, smiles at the green-haired maiden, then playfully says "alright. This should be our last game then," while taking the ribbon off her hair and dropping it, then threateningly finishes "outside! I don't want your body breaking holes in my shrine now!"

From the trees outside, that familiar reporter's voice sounds surprised as she says "whoa! This is going in the front page!"

Ail tackles the tree before Aya can escape, and after she falls on her head beside him he lift her up and furiously demands "don't just take pictures and help me stop them!"

Marisa lightly taps the boy on the head with her broom, points up when she gets his attention, then casually says "she took the ribbon off. Either wait until they're both weakened, or risk losing **your** life, da-ze."

Both tengu and dense boy stare at the witch, who lowers the brim of her hat as she says "just watch. If things get out of hand, I'll help you stop them if we can. Just not now. She's really dangerous when she takes that ribbon off."

That sense of urgency Ail was feeling just heightened to new levels thanks to Marisa's thoughtless share of information, yet keeps hoping it's just a simple danmaku battle that ends after someone fake-blows up.

* * *

"This is it Sanae. You REALLY crossed the line now," shouts Reimu.

"You're the only one out of bounds here Reimu," threateningly replies Sanae.

They square off above the shrine's gate, holding their goheis like one would hold swords, then in the blink of the eye curtains of pink and yellow amulets envelop the skies.

The amount of bullets being shot could kill a youkai, yet these girls take those shots on like they are nothing, probably because they are humans, and talismans do minimal damage to them.

The blue and white gets hit by a volley, she shoots a volley of her own, then raises a spell card and declares "Esoterica, Gray Thaumaturgy!"

The red and white takes her opponent's last volley head-on, shots another of her own, then raises a spell card and shouts "Divine Spirit, Fantasy Seal!"

From the grown below, Aya takes many pictures, while Ail and Marisa stare with awe when Sanae's large ethereal pentagram captures all five of Reimu's elemental orbs and both spells start consuming each other.

"Holy shit," exclaims the witch, "that Sanae must be really pushing herself. She is actually matching Reimu! Oh boy, we might need Mima to stop them."

The dense boy stares strangely at the witch, but decides not to ask to avoid unnecessary breakdowns.

Back on the sky the girls pick up right where they left off and shower each other with a dangerous curtain of bullets, this time including small stars and energy-enveloped needles.

The bullets explode with equal force when they crash against each other, and after the smoke from all the bullets clears, the girls are found grappled by the arms and pushing against each other with all their might.

"You're gonna regret pissing me off," grunts Reimu before gritting her teeth and spreading her lips with a dangerous snarl.

"I'm gonna get you back for that magical circle," grumbles Sanae before turning her face feral with hatred.

There is a loud thud, and even the tengu reporter groans loudly after the blue and white maiden howls in pain.

She hovers in the air, holding her lower abdomen tightly while preventing herself from falling, then she opens her right eye to glare at her hated adversary.

There is a sudden whoosh, followed by a very loud thwack, then the red and white literally cries out in pain.

On the ground, Ail covers his eyes, Marisa covers her ears tightly, and Aya covers her mouth while taking more pictures.

On the sky, the maidens hold their lower abdomens and struggle to remain airborne, then the Moriya maiden grunts "urgh. H-hurts, doesn't it?"

The Hakurei maiden growls, but yelps from the pain, then manages to say "you tell me, insufferable bitch! Divine Arts, Demon Binding Circle!"

The crazed girl flies over to her opponent and wraps her arms around her waist, crushing her breath right out of her body just before the familiar golden pillar of light rises from the roof of the shrine upward.

Both girls scream as the beam burns them both, then the spell stops on its own to reveal Sanae biting Reimu's forehead so hard she cuts through the skin.

The red and white maiden releases the girl and punches her gut before flying away to rub her wound, but before her rival has the chance to counter attack the black-haired girl throws needles and brightly-colored charms her way.

The blue and white maiden screams and yelps when those bullets cut and tare, not only her clothes, but her skin as well.

Even with the pain she feels, Sanae throws her gohei at her opponent and misses.

Reimu chuckles and continues her assault, not paying attention to the thrown gohei as the winds pick it up and turn it around.

She groans when she's smacked on the head so hard a bit of blood spills out, though not as much as the Moriya maiden is bleeding, though that's just about to change.

That moment the Hakurei maiden stops attacking, the green-haired girl shoots intensely colored charms and thin spinning stars at her rival.

Reimu grunts and yelps in an attempt to suppress herself from giving the other girl the satisfaction, but a well placed spinning star right on the chest causes the stubborn maiden to scream as it cuts her skin several times before stopping.

The girls are covered with bloody cuts after the relentless bullet attacks, and yet they seem ready for more as they breathlessly growl at each other.

They rush forward with their goheis held tightly on their hands and clash them so hard they send holy sparks to the sky, and even though they are just clashing those sticks, the impact keeps burning their fingers with each blow.

They finally reach their mark at the same time, Sanae striking Reimu on the left of her neck, same as the Hakurei is doing to the Moriya, leaving a deep cut on each other, then separate to hold their bleeding necks.

On the ground, only Aya notices the deep cuts, but says nothing to the others as she is too distracted with picture-taking to speak.

The girls in the sky glower at each other, breathing hard through the mouth as they recover from the stinging pain, then launch at each other before they are fully recovered, with spell cards held tight on their hands.

Once three feet away the green-haired maiden shouts "Snake Sign, Great Snake Swimming in the Clouds!", at the same time as the black-haired maiden shouts "Treasure Sign, Yin-Yang Orb!"

Instead of the spell themselves, Sanae's hands glow bright blue and Reimu's glow gold, and they throw those overcharged punches at each other with explosive force that equals the powers of the spells.

The first clash is a solid slug on the chest each that sends them both flying several feet away, and though still out of breath they now shoot charms and amulets at each other, and each of those bullets comes packed with more energy than needed to take each other down.

Each bullet explodes with enough force to take down Flandre with one shot, and yet these girls keep ignoring their pain to launch at each other again.

They fly closer, grip each other by the hairs as tightly as they can, and growl, while on the ground below Ail desperately says "ok, enough's enough! We gotta stop them before they **kill** each other!"

Marisa grabs him from behind by the arms and says "no, you idiot! They'll kill us if we-huh?"

At that very moment in the sky, Sanae pulls Reimu closer to herself and growls "payback for the pain spell Hakurei bitch!", then she unleashes the stored energy from her spell card and passes it into Reimu's own body.

The red and white screams in a manner not even the black and white witch has ever heard her scream before, as the burning energy coursing through her nervous system keeps sending painful jolts all over.

That painful shriek echoes so loudly, even inside the shrine, Mima can feel it vibrate in her none-existent bones, and on the lake, Rika unsheathes her sword and jumps into action, followed shortly by Yuki and Suzaku.

Kali seems is going to follow after her as well, but quickly notices her powers are back to full, turns into a black shadow, then flies the other way.

Back at the shrine's front, Reimu falls with a thud to the ground and is promptly followed by Sanae, who picks and lifts her up by her hair and threateningly whispers "you will never bother me, or Ail-kun again!"

The black-haired maiden grabs her rival by the neck and returns the favor she just received and pours the energy from her spell into the green-haired maiden's body, making her scream equally loud as that burning energy hurts her nervous system.

The blue and white maiden punches the red and white on the face to free herself, then both falls to the ground on their backs.

They manage to crawl several feet away from each other, then struggle to stand on their knees, and though grunting loudly while struggling greatly to do so, they manage to get on their feet.

They are tired, dizzy, bleeding, and just about ready to drop, yet they scream as they summon great power to themselves and rush once again toward each other.

They are in range, both scream as they raise their fists and ready themselves to unleash their bullet barrages, and when they unleash their final furious attack, a quick shadow steps in between them.

Ran and Mima run out the shrine, the spirit asking "what the hell happened now?"

"My lady! My lady Reimu! Where is she?", demands Rika as she rushes toward the front of the shrine, where the rising smoke slowly dissipates.

And there they are, the two shrine maidens with terrified looks on their bloody, burned and cut faces, standing about four feet away from each other with their goheis pointing at one another, yet seemingly missing their mark.

Between them, at the end of each gohei, stands Ail, and right behind him are Aya and Marisa, who failed to stop him in time.

He has seven deep cuts on either side of his body, blood trickles from his nose and left ear, he falls on his knees and some blood trickles from the right side of his mouth, and he keeps staring forward with his shocked eyes, unable to register what has happened.

From the shrine Mima mumbles "and they finally killed him. Was about time," to which little Yukari just smiles at, while staring at the spirit.

"AIL-KUN!", shouts Sanae when her mind finally registers what has happened.

"Dammit, what have I done," whispers Reimu to herself the moment Rika stands by her side and asks "my lady, what has happened here? Why are you all covered in blood? What happened to Ail?"

The dense boy finally realizes what happened to himself as he looks at the several light cuts on either arms, then smiles, chuckles, and says to himself "th-this is incredible. Eiki... Shikieiki, what have I done?"

Sanae rushes to his man, apologizing over and over while trying to find somewhere on his body she could touch him without harming him, then she points at Reimu and barks "YOU!"

The two maidens seem refreshed, and it is obvious they can fight more, something neither Marisa or Aya will permit this time.

The red and white maiden sighs to calm herself down, not wanting to fight with Aya now, and says "look, let's call a truce. We'll get him inside and patch him up."

The blue and white silently agrees with a quick nod, then notice Ail laughing where he kneels.

When he raises his smiling face, the girls gasp at the desperate and confused eyes of the boy and the blood-stained tears running down his cheeks, and with a disturbing grin on his face as he looks at Sanae he asks "what have I done?"

* * *

Ail is forced to sit beside little Yukari and stripped of his shirt, something he hates yet doesn't seem to notice at the moment, while the little blonde smiles and sympathetically pats his shoulder.

He looks to the little girl and whispers "I never meant for this to happen."

"There, there," whispers the little girl. "It's all part of growing up."

Around them, Yuki exclaims "whoa, Ail, you're more beat up than when you fought Damien. What the hell happened to you?"

Suzaku flies on to her perch and says "_Ail, try not to move too much. Those internal injuries look bad form here._"

Aya takes many photos of the boy, then bows and says "ah, sorry, it's an impulse. Erm, I don't, um-"

"Make the story. I don't care," says the dense boy, making the tengu smile, though looking respectful about it.

Marisa, Reimu, Sanae and Rika talk at the same time, arguing about several subjects at once.

The witch says "Reimu, just sit down, ze. Let me and Rika take care of him."

The red and white says "no, **I'm** the one that's applying the ointment!"

The blue and white argues "**we** did that damage, so it is **I** who cares for him!"

The angelic maid threatens "don't you dare point that finger at my lady! You already made her scream once, Miss Kochiya! I won't let it happen again!"

Meanwhile, Mima hovers around the table and glowers at Ail, and when the boy looks at her, that frown she makes turns vile, then she mouths "this. is fault."

Ran and Chen keep themselves away, hidden by the doorway to the rooms corridors, watching their surroundings in surprise.

All of the voices going off at once, Mima's threats, Reimu and Sanae, "_Reimu and Sanae. Reimu and Sanae!** Reimu and Sanae!**_", thinks the boy.

He springs onto his feet, glares around with a feral look on his face, then takes in a lot of air and screams "**SHUUUUT UUUUUUUP!**"

He takes several steps forward and screams "**SHUT THE HELL UUUUUP!**"

The entire shrine is frozen in shock, then both Maidens ready themselves to confront the boy, but he points at Reimu and shouts "I just can't believe this from you, of ALL PEOPLE!"

He points at himself with his hands and shouts "**you** fall in love with **ME**, when I told you several times that you are like a sister! Just because I helped you against Sariel? What the HELL is wrong with you?"

The maiden takes two steps back, unable to believe what she just heard, but before Sanae can rub it in, Ail points at her and shouts "**AND YOU!**"

He takes his shirt from the ground and places it back on, places his fist on his chest, then says "I love you! For Suwako's SAKE, I've told you a hundred damned times there's nobody else for me, and I meant it, and still do! **Why the hell do you keep making this an issue?**"

A quick sigh escapes the maiden as Ail points at Reimu and says "and lay off the damned attacks! Tch! To think I so stupidly though you were fighting out of your stupid rivalry! BUT NOOOOO~ You're fighting over **ME!** Just like Mima said. JEEZ!"

He hits himself on the chest as he says "**ME! **A stupid! dense! retard! that couldn't figure this out! until the blood was spilled!"

Mima is going to fly over, already raising her sleeve to punch the boy on the back of the head, but that boy turns around and screams "**STOP RIGHT THERE YOU MORON!**", and the spirits flinches and hops back when the image of a beastly black-eyed dragon springs out of the boy's very spirit.

Ail takes two steps toward her and screams "YOU COULD HAVE TOLD HER! WHY IN THE HELL YOU DIDN'T TELL HER!"

He points at himself with both thumbs as he says "to **piss me the hell off!** To make my damned life a cursed misery! Probably what your damned life was before you died."

He opens a solid-looking gap straight to the front of the Moriya Shrine, then shouts "I only came to visit Yukari! To learn what had happened! If you didn't want Reimu clinging on my damned, stupid self, you should have just TOLD her from the start. Hell, why didn't you just tell her after ripping my goddamned soul out of my body several times?"

He notices the look of fright on the spirit's face as she looks at the Hakurei Maiden, then notices said girl's shock and anger rising, so he smiles, and sinisterly says "whoops. Another slip-up. Well then, the cat's out of the bag. You better tell her now."

He looks at Sanae and signals her to get close, and after she enters the gap, he walks in behind her, and with that vile smile and sinister tone, she says "you know, you should all take Ran's, Chen's and Suzaku's example. They are the only ones that seem to know how beautiful they look when they shut up at the right time."

With those words he enters the gap and closes it up, leaving many sour faces looking around in shock unable to speak.

Little Yukari smiles, giggles, then says "no dears, don't blame him. That was the **other**~ Ail speaking."

The faces around the shrine change to confusion, save for Reimu, who looks down to the ground and holds her chest as though having been stabbed with a sharp knife.

* * *

At the Moriya Shrine, Suwako sits with Budou on the living room's floor on a small cushion, and even though the little bat youkai keeps complaining, the froggy goddess refuses to let her go, and ends up sitting the young youkai on her lap.

Kanako sits by the donation box and continues glancing over to the shrine's entrance while taking sips from her large sake plate.

"A little late," she mumbles to herself as she takes another drink from her plate, then the blue gap opens up and out come both wounded Ail and Sanae with long singed faces.

The second that gap closes up the shrine maiden turns around and furiously says "how dare you speak to me that way in front of everyone!", then pokes him on the chest while saying "I should have sealed you right there on the spot!"

"Well, sorry for being the assertive **boyfriend** you always dreamed of making me," mockingly replies the boy with a scowl and a fowl grin aimed at his girl.

Sanae swings a hand to his face, which he effortlessly avoids, and angrily says "how dare you? It's not my fault you've become an... an asshole! And what's the deal with Reimu, eh? What's with that Sariel garbage you were speaking of, huh?"

Ail clenches his hands into fists, but keeps them under his waist as he angrily says "well I got news for you, you selfish, self-centered, one-eyed maiden! It was YOU who wanted me to be stronger! More assertive! Well **HERE I AM!**"

Before he can say more, the green-haired maiden pushes him back, almost knocking him down, then shouts "get out! Get out of my damned sight, or so help me, I'm gonna-!"

"Just shut up already and seal me! Go on! Go ahead!", he edges, opening his arms and gesturing a mocking welcome.

The boy's challenge is tempting, and this shrine maiden seems eager to accept it, however they both give each other a sudden forgiving glance, and she turns around and walks over to her goddess, ignoring the boy completely.

Ail raises his left hand, aims it at the girl he's scowling at, then opens another solid gap in front of himself.

Suwako taps Budou on the back and whispers "go with him. He needs you and Phredia now," then the little bat quickly nods and runs toward her father, calling "wait, I'm coming with you papa!"

His face completely changes to what he is usually, and after patting the little girl on the head she looks up at him and says "you're hurt again papa! You're going to have to go into time-out again!"

They enter the gap, it closes up, and now only the sound of the wind is heard travelling through the empty shrine.

Sanae expels air from her nose, almost whistling with steam as she does, then continues on her way to Kanako, asking mid-way "Yasaka-sama! What do you know about this deal with Ail and Reimu?"

The goddess of war places her plate next to the half-full bottle of sake on her right besides the donation box, then takes a deep breath before looking at her shrine maiden on the face.

"First, understand this," begins the woman, "as gods, we are not to interfere with this matter, as serious as it is. That is how it was decreed by the Yama and the fates."

The wounded wind priestess nods once, then the goddess continues "when he was returning home from Damien's Makai, that eager little dark boy shot a curse at him and the girls, which in turn activated a magical circle mean to seal Drake's sword at the Hakurei Shrine, so in order to save Yuki and Cirno Ail pushed them out of harms' way and took both curse and blessing at the same time. However in doing so, he was sent to the past, when Reimu was still young inexperienced as a shrine maiden."

Sanae quickly absorbs what has just been told and nods, then Kanako continues "now then, he was also poisoned by the black sap from those trees, and was using considerable amounts of magic to keep himself from falling to the illness the poison would cause him."

"In doing that while exploring the old Hakurei Shrine he attracted the fallen angel, Sariel's attention, and she took both Reimu and Ail back to her tainted shrine to kill them both. Now, your soft-hearted boyfriend saw how that angel of death almost claimed the girl's life, so..."

The green-haired girl waits for the goddess, then blinks after analyzing the information and says "so he saved her butt, and now she's placed a foolish sense of affection on him, right?"

"Something like that," comments the goddess before looking at the donation box, then says "understand that he tried to keep hidden, and even tried running away before she saw him, but she **did** see him, and with that, some points in history changed, but at the same time remained intact."

She looks at the blue and white maiden, notices the lost look in her face, then sighs and says "this is affecting him greatly as well, but we cannot force you to choose what you should do, now that you know, nor can we help directly."

Sanae nods, glances around until she gazes upon the living quarters, then says "um, I need to take a bath now. D-deal with these wounds, and go make dinner."

Kanako watches as the shrine maiden slowly makes her way to the house, then mentally curses the pact she made of not interfering, and wishes for someone to come and fix this mess for them.

* * *

Later that night, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu sits on the veranda, looking up at the starry night sky and keeps sighing repeatedly.

From the table in the living room, Marisa says "man, I hate seeing her like that," then she drink from a tiny cup of sake next to Aya, who nods in assent and takes a drink herself, while Yuki, who wears a pink hat, looks at the girls with sympathy.

From the kitchen Rika calls "my lady please, come an eat something at least. It'll make you feel better."

The girl doesn't reply, and just lowers her head to look at her feet and sighs again.

From her futon, Yukari says "let her be. She needs to think," then Suzaku tweets, and so everyone can hear she adds "_that is correct Rika-sama. Right now, her thoughts are a little scrambled thanks to that boy's unexpected and sudden outburst._"

Even the pink-hatted Yuki stares with surprise when they look back outside.

Mima approaches Reimu and hovers in front of her without saying a word.

The maiden raises her head, and with a soft and cracking voice whispers "this is all your fault."

The evil spirit stares at the shrine maiden without saying a word, infuriating the red and white, who jump on her feet, points at the offending woman and shouts "why did you attack him? What did he ever do to you, huh? What's all that about that you know, but I don't?"

Mima's gaze becomes cold, but she remains silent and continues to stare.

Reimu takes her gohei from the ground and swings it with both hands at the spirit's face, as she screams "**TELL ME!**"

The spirit raises her staff from nowhere to block her face from the flailing weapon, then looks straight into the maiden's eyes and says "he broke a promise. A promise to stay away from you while you recovered."

Reimu stops her attacks to properly shout "what the hell was that supposed to mean? Recovered? Start making sense!"

"I was just trying to protect you from him!", continues the green-haired woman.

The maiden roars and shouts "so that's why you attacked him? That's why you tried to kill him? To protect me? What manner of stupidity are you blabbing about you old hag?"

One would believe Mima isn't affected at all by that insult by looking at her dodge those charm bullets so calmly, but now she starts shooting star-shaped bullets at the shrine maiden and angrily shouts "this love you feel for that idiot is **fake!** You shouldn't have such strong feeling for him!"

Reimu continues shooting and dodging as well as the evil spirit does and shouts "my feelings for him are **real!** He's the one that saved me all those years ago, and I can feel it! We are destined to be together forever!"

"And what about your duties as shrine maiden? What about Gensokyo? Don't you love Gensokyo as well?", shouts the woman as she adds lasers to her danmaku.

"Of course I love Gensokyo! That's why I'm willing to pass this unfair watch-dog task to someone else before marrying Ail!", shouts the black-haired girl as she adds needles to her danmaku.

Mima flies higher and farther away from the girl to have a better chance of avoiding being hit and shouts "gods-dammit all Reimu, THINK! Use that intuition of yours! You **KNOW **something is wrong about all of this! You **KNOW** that love should not even **BE** there! And you know damned well that's not what truly happened with Sariel!"

The Hakurei maiden chases after the spirit with a spell card on hand and shouts "what do you know about that? You weren't even there!"

"I didn't need to be!", shouts the spirit before swinging her staff and sending a magical wave the maiden dodges by easily diving, then continues "I remember the real story, the one you told Marisa, about how your shrine was attacked and you tracked those responsible hiding in Makai!"

Inside the shrine, all but Yukari and her shikigami twitch when the realization hits them, then Marisa herself says "wait, that's right. Sariel didn't take Reimu by force. But then... why-?"

Above the shrine the realization his Reimu also, but her infatuation with Ail blinds her, so she raises her spell card and cries "yo-you LIAR! Dream Sign, Duplex Barrier!"

The painfully shocking barriers grow from around the maiden's frame, yet stop in front of Mima's nose and nothing else; no bullets, no sealing amulets, nothing at all.

In the center of the spell is the pitiable image of the Hakurei maiden, crying like a confused child while looking up at the evil spirit.

"W-why are you lying to me? Stop it! Stop lying!", cries Reimu in hope to hear a laugh and that woman admitting to the lie, but that doesn't happen.

Mima facepalms and groans, then say "look, this is going to be very hard to swallow, but please pay attention. And no, I am not lying."

Reimu's barriers lose intensity as the spirit begins her story.

"When that idiot was returning from that **other** idiot's Makai, a curse and your magical circle's blessing crashed right on Ail and sent him back in time. The moron was using too much magic on himself and attracted Sariel to you, already screwing up the timeline."

The red and white maiden begins to descend as her spell card cancels, and the spirit woman continues "he got scared when that angel almost killed you, just like the real story, and panicked. He saved you when you should have saved yourself, and then he **let** you see him."

Reimu is already kneeling on the ground, softly crying "you lie! You're lying," while Rika holds her mistress' shoulders and softly asks "please, get up my lady."

Mima snorts, slowly descends, then says "you know this is the truth Hakurei! But if you're still in doubt, ask the history teacher. She'll tell you how screwed up the timeline is."

The girl holds her ears and shakes her head while crying the word "lies" over and over, but it is obvious to all in the shrine that she believes differently, that she's just trying to convince herself otherwise.

The magical woman hovers closer to the maiden and softly says "I'm sorry Reimu. I never wanted this to happen to you. That's why I asked Ail to keep away, but-"

Looking at the Shrine Maiden of Paradise like this disgusts the evil spirit, and having had enough of this she clicks her tongue and flies to the storage house where her room is.

As she does she sighs and whispers to herself "ugh, that stupid kid," and after she opens the door to head inside she finds Yukari, standing with Ran's help as she smiles and says "you shouldn't blame the boy for everything. He's suffering too you know. He's really sorry for all of that's happened. Well, his good half."

Mima looks back and watches as Rika, Marisa and Aya take Reimu inside the shrine, then turns to look at her guests and says "after seeing **that**, I believe you are right."

The blond girl giggles, then says "once he is himself again you should apologize. Not that I care about that stuff, but it would help."

With that said, the supposedly-evil spirit waves her hand as she phases through the floor and goes into her room, leaving Yukari with a smile on her bluish face and sweat rolling down her head.

Said girl looks up at Ran and says "er, Ran, please take me to my futon. I'm starting to get dizzy."

The shikigami sighs as she gently picks her young-looking mistress up and says "I told you, you were pushing yourself too hard."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library, books, books, and more piles of book litter the floors and corridors between bookshelves, one the many tables and desks, and now even Marisa would have trouble finding a book with all the mess.

Patchouli and Koakuma sit by the only two remaining adjacent desks with enough space to read a book on, both reading through pages as fast as they can and groaning irritably after failing to find what they are looking for.

"Argh! Nothing useful on this one either," says the stressed magician.

The little devil tosses her own book aside, picks another, then angrily says "so many books, and not one has anything useful for this!"

The purple-haired librarian picks another book from a massive pile to her right, then commands "just keep looking! It's almost autumn and I'd very much like to find a solution before we reach that mark!"

While the stressed girls continue reading through pages at record-breaking speeds, Leon and Lina hold hands as they walk toward the girls and stare as the girls flip through pages like maniacs.

Before long, the boy asks "my love, what's the matter? Why are you so stressed out?"

Patchouli twitches and says to herself "still not used to that," then turns her disturbing smiling face at the Kori boy and says "oh, we're just looking for one particular spell."

"Is that so my cute little pet?", asks the girl while looking at the red-head devil.

Koakuma chuckles and smiles more naturally than her mistress, and says "yes. And it is very important we find this soon, so please, be good and go do something else."

The Kori girl shares a serious stare session with her brother, then the boy looks at the magician and asks "is this about what Mistress Remilia said?"

"About us disappearing in the winter?", adds the girl.

The librarians stop stiff and dare not raise their eyes, then the ice girl continues "please, do not worry about it. We are not afraid. Besides, we have lived wonderful lives with you two. Learned about magic, family, loyalty, love."

The ice boy smiles and says "that's right. I even experienced death and rebirth, and it's all thanks to you."

"That's something you shouldn't be that happy about, brother," grumbles the girl.

"But," yelps Patchouli.

"But," yelps Koakuma.

The librarians look at each other, then suddenly cry "**but we don't want you to go~!**"

"It's true that you annoy me during my reading," begins the purple-haired magician.

"But we would miss you very much," finishes the red-haired little demon.

The Kori twins smile, both bow their heads, then look at their hosts and sweetly say "**thank you.**"

The girls look at each other, surprised and confused about what's happening, then the twins giggle.

"We'll go and pick up the books you have finished reading," begins Leon, "so you two just keep looking for that spell and leave the cleaning to us. I'm sure you'll find something sooner this way," finishes Lina.

As they walk away, hands held still, the boy loudly says "and if we happen to find something," "we'll let you know immediately, finishes the girl, and off they go to the center of the library to begin the cleaning.

Patchouli and Koakuma look at each other, smile, and when they realize they are wasting time they both gasp and the little devil exclaims "ack! No more wasting time! Read Lady Patchouli, READ!"

"I'm reading, I'm reading!", shouts the magician before adding "and don't order me around like that!"

The little devil's apology can be heard three floors above, where Sakuya stands elegantly between her two mistresses, whom sit on comfortable-looking sofas as they look down with wide grins on their faces.

Remilia sighs with satisfaction and says "I'm telling you, they are an endless source of eternal amusement."

Flandre giggles and says "that was mean sis, but I have to admit, it was a good one."

The perfect maid places her right hand on her right eye, groans, then says "My Lady, I thought you were telling them for their own emotional well-being, not your own amusement."

The vampire smiles as she looks to her maid, then casually replies "two birds with one stone, my dear Sakuya. Two birds with just one stone."

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Luna Rivers, Budou, Phredia, Kali, Drake, Leon and Lina were created by Willie G.R.

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Damien was created by Hydroviper

SEP 16 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So... yeah, shit hit the fan hard for Ail, Reimu and Sanae, and just as Drake also gets his sword back. Good thing Yukari sealed him in the void, but it won't hold that stubborn godling for too long, sadly. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep my word and give you all the satisfaction of Drake's beating by _SOMEONE'S_ spank-hand. Nope, not telling yet. I want it to be a pleasant surprise. Let's hope I can do it :).**


	14. Chapter 14

It's a deceivingly peaceful early morning at the Hakurei Shrine.

Rika walks out of the shrine in her plain white and red training kimono with her wooden sword on hand, when she notices something white and black sitting against the tree in front of the door across the stone path.

"Miss Aya?", softly calls the maid, but when she gets a better look at that pale pouting face with red eyes and white hair, she gasps and exclaims "Miss Kali! Oh dear, are you alright?"

The shadow remains where she is, looking away from the maid, who continues "what's wrong? I thought you left home after Tenshi left yesterday. Did you get lost? Would you like me to come with you?"

The pouting shadow girl blushes, gets on her ghostly tail, then, while still looking away, she clears her throat and mumbles "um, Kimi mur mur-mur _can'tgetanyfood_."

Rika tilts her head with a curious smile on her face, having only understood the name of Kimi and the word 'food', and asks "um, pardon me? What was that you just said?", then lightly flaps her wings twice.

Kali's face turns even redder when she witness such a fiercely adorable attack and starts looking around to find something else to look at, and says "um, i-it's Kimi. I can't find her anywhere and, um, I can't catch any fish, 'cuz I have no claws, and, um... that's, er-"

The angelic-winged maid stares with those sky-blue eyes of hers with great curiosity, then smiles when she links one thing with another and sweetly says "why didn't you say you were hungry? I'll prepare you a nice breakfast, so why don't you come inside while you wait."

The shadow twitches and gasps, waves her hands in the air, then shouts "uh-I'm qu-quite capable of taking care of myself thanks, bu-but since you made the offer and insist so much, I-I guess I can't refuse, s-so don't get any funny ideas, you hear!"

The shrine maid covers her mouth when she giggles, then gestures the shadow to follow inside while saying "alright then. Please, come this way."

The embarrassed ghost-tailed girl blushes harder and quietly hovers inside the building, thinking of something threatening to say, but not too offending, but before she has the chance the sweet maid says "and don't worry, if anybody asks, I'll tell them you threatened me and are stealing the food. Is that alright?"

Kali's face turns so red it looks like it might catch fire soon, and after sitting next to the table she remains there, staring at it, then suddenly raises her face and says "y-you darn right that's right! N-now s-start with the cooking... p-p-please."

She smacks herself on the temple when she realizes what she just said, then corrects herself "er, no, not please. But please, hurry up! That's an order!"

Rika just smiles, but remains quiet as she begins the preparations to start cooking, and as she skillfully begins to cut the vegetables she cautiously asks "so, Miss Kimi is missing? Perhaps you'd like some help finding her?"

"That would be sweet, thanks," casually replies the shadow of a shadow while exploring her hand.

She slowly realizes what she said, but as she does she glances over at the winged maid and her eyes bulge with fright.

The maid cuts those vegetables so fast, with such precise strikes of the knife and without missing a single beat, even when she pours the pieces into the pan and picks up the next vegetable.

Finally realizing what she said, Kali yelps "a-ma-ma-maiii," straightens up, points at the girl, then nervously says "w-wait a minute! I meant no! No, I don't need any help! M-much less from you. B-bu-but if you want to help, then I'll let you come along! Ju-just don't get in my way!"

The sweet and well-endowed girl smiles and giggles, then says "alright then, when I'm free, I'll go with you and help you on your search for Miss Kimi."

The shadow girl remains as she was, pointing at the maid, though now her mouth remains open and her eyes fixed as she realizes, once again, she said something she regrets.

She sits down, holds her head and glances around while thinking "_auu~ what did I say just now? Argh! If Kimi ever finds out about this, she'll never let me live it down! S-still..._"

She looks at the hated maid, her dark heart thumps once, and she thinks "_is this girl for real? I'm a shadow, Kimi's a shadow, and she's willing to help us? But... she sliced me, and claims it was an accident, and, and! Is **THIS** the real one, or was the real one that psycho bitch?_"

"_This is the real Rika Onkamikami,_" casually says the vermilion bird on the perch through telepathy.

Kali quickly rises, scowls at the bird above and thinks "_keep your thoughts to yourself chicken girl. And stop reading my thoughts. It's annoying._"

Suzaku bucks and snaps her beak after turning around, then says "_well excuse **me**. You're the one thinking out loud and spilling your thoughts out all over the place._"

The shadow girl sits again and crosses her arms under her chest as she growls, then the red bird continues "_I don't fully understand why you still think Rika-sama is bad. She is not. She cares about you as much as she cares about all her friends._"

The white-haired shadow stares at the maid in question with curiosity, and after an inward groan she thinks "_fine, I'll give her a chance, but if she cuts me to pieces again, I'm coming after you as a ghost and haunting you for an eternity._"

The red bird ruffles her feathers and shakes her head, then turns around to face her master while the corner of her beak seems to stretch into a smile.

* * *

Later that morning, after Yuki joins Kali, Tenshi and Aya at the table, Rika picks a tray with one last serving of breakfast and heads straight to Reimu's room.

Inside she finds the Dream Maiden sitting with her back against a corner in her room while looking out a window, still wearing her shrine maiden outfit from the day before, minus her sleeves or the ribbon on her head.

The maid sighs as she places the tray with food on her mistress' clothes cabinet and asks "my lady, did you spend all night sitting over there?

Reimu is a mess; her hair looks dirty and unkempt, her lower lids have taken an unhealthy black color, her bloodshot eyes look dull and empty, and her skin as taken a sickly yellowish tone.

Without looking at her maid she speaks with a cracked voice "you know? I knew it. I knew I was wrong, but I wanted to believe it was true. You know? That I wouldn't have to end up a lonely old hag whom never experienced the company of someone special. You know? A special partner to share my life with."

Tears flow out her eyes as she smiles and continues "that Ail. He would have been the one. But I was kidding myself. All the luck in the world could never join us. Why did I do this, huh? Why, if I knew all of this, did I keep pushing it? Why... does it hurt so much?"

The maiden gasps when a large warm pair of wings wrap themselves around her, then Rika kneels down to hold her mistress by her shoulders to show her support, and as if waiting for something like this, the shrine maiden turns to her maid and places her head on the maid's shoulder, rubbing her cheek against the soft wing, though she does not sob while her tears continue to flow, and asks "why?"

"But my lady, you'll never be alone," softly begins the shrine maid, whom has activated her Soraogan blood limit just for this, as she gives Reimu a warm motherly hug.

"I wish I could be more, but I just cannot be that partner you seek. But I **am** here with you, **for** you, for as long as you have this burden to bare and beyond. I will not leave you alone, my lady Reimu."

There is a short pause where the shrine maiden stop her tears, and now Rika softly combs her mistress' hair with her hands and says "as for 'why' to this whole Ail business. My lady, you may be a Hakurei Shrine Maiden, but you are also human. That desire is just natural for you, so don't go thinking what you did was bad."

Reimu blinks, her body relaxes, and her eyes recover some of their old shine, then the maid continues "however, you did try to force yourself between him and Miss Sanae, and I believe that you won't feel fully at peace until after you apologize to them, particularly Miss Sanae."

The shrine maiden manages to smile as she chuckles, then softly says "I, uh, think you're right. I almost ki-um, did something bad to her. But, this still hurts. This feeling for him is still there."

The black-haired girl's stomach gurgles out loud, a bead of sweat rolls down the back of her head, and after being released from the motherly hug, the angelic maid says "here, I brought you your breakfast. After you eat, I'll help you with your bath."

The brown-haired maid stands, walks over to the door, opens it up to reveal a tengu, a celestial, a Makaian, and a Parsee, whom all fall to the ground, and angrily says "with that said, I believe it won't be **too** much to ask if you peepers to heat up the bath water while my lady eats, am I right?"

The jealous peepers now sit with their legs crossed and pout as they look away, and Aya thinks "_darn lucky maid,_" but nods and reluctantly says "fine, as long as it is for Reimu. Besides, I got nothing to defend myself with anyway."

Tenshi sighs and glances upward at the angel-winged maid while pouting and thinking "_why don't you give **ME **one of those hugs?_", then nods and says "fine, but only because you asked."

Parsee blushes, points at Suzaku at the living room, then cries "but she said you wouldn't notice me! Be-besides, I wasn't peeping, I was manipulating their jealousy!"

The sexy shrine maid face palms and sighs, then says "then you will sweep the front of the shrine for being unhelpful in this situation. You should have just stopped them."

When Rika turns around to face her mistress, ignoring the groans of complains of the girls slowly walk to execute their punishment chores, she widens her eyes and smiles when she finds Reimu has served herself and is slowly eating the meal specially made for her, then deactivates her blood limit and sighs.

Ignoring the still-peeping girls by the doorway, the shrine maiden says "you remember that story I told you about? When a spell made me go crazy for Ail? I almost had him too."

The girls all raise an eyebrow as they wait, then Reimu sighs and continues "well, the real version should be the one where Remilia almost killed him, but he was saved by Cirno."

"My lady?", asks the angelic winged girl as confusion and worry take her face.

The Shrine Maiden of Paradise lifts her head and smiles at the girls, then says "well, there is another version where he saved **ME** from an overpowered Spear of the Gungnir, instead of the overpowered Scarlet Devil, then he beat Remilia for me and forced her to go back home."

She looks back at the food and swirls the eggs and vegetables together with her chop-stick as she says "I played the damsel in distress and _convinced_ him of taking me home, and then I stole a kiss. It felt so right. He, erm, ran away after that."

She looks up at her maid again with tears piling under her eyes even though she smiles and asks "why would I have these two memories of one event so vivid inside my mind?"

Rika Onkamikami finds herself at a loss for words, and though still mad at them she looks at the peeping girls, shrugs and shakes her head.

She gets an equal response from the peepers and just sighs while her mistress eats between sobs.

The maid suddenly stares flatly at the girls, whom immediately rush to do their chores, and though looking angry she sweetly says "Yuki-sis, I know you're in the closet. I'm sorry, but I'll have to give you double the punishment for trying to trick me."

"Aw, dammit!", curses the fire witch from within Reimu's walk-in closet, then suddenly gasps and exclaims "awesome! I found some manju! Um, wait, what's a nekomata doing here?"

* * *

Meanwhile, over at Makai, in the middle of the dry wastelands, purple sparks fly all over the sky, increasing in intensity and making louder cracking sounds the more time passes.

A sword made of diamond breaks through the fabric of reality, cuts open a tear from within the void, then Drake Starstriker roars as he narrowly escapes the never-ending prison.

The tears through space and time closes up just as the sole of his shoe exits it, and leaves him to fall right on his face on the hot surface of the dried lands.

He spits out dirt and rock as he quickly lifts his face and shouts "damn that blonde demon! When I meet with her again I'll slice her head off FIRST!"

The boy sheathes his sword on his back, where the sword becomes a simple gold blade in a magical scabbard, then he mutters curses under his breath as he pushes himself up on his feet.

The look of confusion on his face as he looks around expresses his realization of being somewhere unfamiliar, and after looking around as far as he can from where he stands, he loudly asks "where in the bloody regions of hell did that woman send me to?"

He takes flight and rises as high as he can to get a better look, then glances over at Pandemonium, the City of Makai, Hokkai, the small Forest before the city, the urban area, and the icy region and massive lake before the crystal palace.

The godling growls as he clenches his fists, his energy vibrates dangerously, and as he descends he says to himself "bah! I was right. This **is** hell! This energy is unmistakably dark and evil."

As soon as he lands, he starts walking toward the city and says to himself "I better start walking if I want to find the lord of these lands and demand he gets me out of here," then he groans with annoyance and says "dammit all, these demons are going to start attacking me for no reason. GAH! So frustrating!"

At Pandemonium, at the crystal hall, Shinki sits on her throne and happily sips on some tea before sighing and saying "this is delicious, as always. Thank you Yumeko-chan."

The blonde maid that stands to the goddess' right blushes fiercely and coldly says "th-thank you for the compliment Lady Shinki, but p-please don't call me that," then clears her throat and quietly says "b-but thanks."

Shinki tilts her head sideways and giggles while staring at the blushing face of her child, then quickly straightens up, tosses the half-filled cup of tea to the ground, then snorts with every move she makes.

Concerned, Yumeko approaches her mistress and asks "Lady Shinki, what's the matter?"

As if not even listening, the cute light-blue haired goddess smacks her forehead and furiously mutters incoherently, then raises her voice as she says "of all the damned, bloody, retarded, shitty, flaming asses, puss-spewing boils from the goddamned hell!"

The maid stares in complete shock as her mother keeps repeating the word 'shit' while lightly tapping her forehead with the back of her own fist, then finally builds enough courage to ask "mom, what happened? Why are you cursing like those loud-mouths from Hokkai?"

The cute, fowl-mouthed goddess turns a disturbingly forced smile at her maid and asks "Yumeko-chan, you remember me telling you about that god-in-training strutting around Gensokyo?"

The maid's face twists to express intense disgust as she slowly says "ooooh shiiiiit. He's here, isn't he?"

Shinki sweats as she nods and chuckles disturbingly darkly, then commands "Yumeko, I want that insufferable bastard out of here, but I don't want him attacking anyone needlessly. Send someone nice to lead him straight out of here and that'll be the end of that."

"But Lady Shinki, why not deal with him yourself?", asks the blonde showing great confusion.

The goddess grins, quickly frowns when she sighs and rubs the bride of her nose, then says "because he's a goddamned god-in-training, and I must not interfere with his journey. It's an incredibly retarded rule the higher gods came up with."

She stands up and says "so as long as he's not done anything too bad, I can't kick him out. So please, be a dear and send someone to subtly kick him out of here **for **me."

Yumeko salutes her goddess, bows elegantly, then says "already asked Luize and Sara to take care of this problem. They should have him out of here before supper."

"Excellent~", sings the Makaian goddess as she walks over to the west-side door, and as she turns the knob she adds "make sure you also tell them not to aggravate him. That sword he has is a really, REALLY nasty piece of hardware, if you catch my meaning."

The blonde maid grabs her two-way radio and after a quick static she says "you heard her ladies. Don't make him mad, don't let him use that sword."

From the radio's speaker Luize's voice sounds a little odd as she says "roger that Miss Yumeko. We'll make sure he exits this place faster than-kh-shhhhh."

After a groaned sigh, the maid rubs her forehead and says "let's hope her blabbing mouth doesn't set him off, or we're going to be in deep shit."

* * *

At Ail's house over at the Forest of Magic, the dense boy sits in his room as he struggles with himself to try and keep calm.

He sits on his bed and he holds his head tight as he asks himself "I should be calm by now. Why am I still so angry? Why does thinking about those shrine maidens irritates me so?"

He lets go of his head and begins exploring his hands as though looking at them for the first time, then thinks "_I feel strange. It's like this isn't even my own damned body. But this makes no sense!_"

He closes his eyes to activate his Yozoragan blood limit, however nothing happens.

The boy gasps when he realizes he can't even use his own powers and thinks "_my energy is a mess. Can't transform, can't manipulate energy at all, I can barely open a gap from here to the kitchen. I think I'm..._"

He wraps his arms around his body and shivers and growls, then grits his teeth, scowls with rage, and whispers "I'm so damned scared. What's happening to me?"

From outside the room, Budou and Phredia watch through a crack on the door, the bat's great concern evident by the look of despair in her eyes.

But she knows she has to be strong, like Suwako told her, so she gulps her fears down and enters her former room.

Ail doesn't seem to notice her, so she hesitantly opens her mouth and whispers "p-papa? Are you ok?"

He lifts his head to look at the source of the voice, and the dense one's face completely changes to normal, he feels his body and energy harmonize once more, and manages to smile at the little youkai and the elf fairy, setting their hearts at ease as well.

"Budou, Phredia. Sorry you had to see that. I'm alright, but I think I need to sleep a little more."

The little bat cracks a smile as well, quickly hops on her papa's lap, then wraps her arms around his neck to hug him and says "thank goodness. I thought papa was sick and got scared."

Ail giggles, but says nothing back, then the youkai girl pushes herself away from the embrace so that she and her fairy can look at the boy's face as she asks "um, are you still angry with mama and Hakurei sis?"

He wasn't expecting the question, and he doesn't want to worry her, so before he can even scowl he forces himself to smile and says "a little. Er, ju-just a little."

Budou scowls, squints her eyes to look into the dense boy's, then suddenly giggles, smiles, and hops back off his lap, Phredia falling off and twirling in the air to settle herself and follow after her youkai.

The little bat girl giggles and says "good," then looks at her papa straight in the eyes and says "then you must go to big-sis Suwako. She has something very important to tell you."

Another surprise hit to Ail's mind, and this time he's unable to hide his surprise and opens both eyes wide, his mouth shrinks, and he tilts his head slightly to the right.

The little girl giggles again and says "wow, just like big-sis said you'd do. She's so cool."

The boy chuckles weakly and coldly says "yeah. She's cool," then thinks "_I'll get that frog-blonde next time._"

He smiles, leans closer to the bat and starts rubbing her head, then asks "and what is this message?"

Budou shrugs and truthfully says "I don't know. All she told me was _'stay with your papa because he will need your help'_, and _'when he's calmed down, tell him to come to me. I need to tell him something important.'_, and that's about it."

She starts to drool as she thinks back and says "and she gave me this very tasty grape sundae with vanilla cream on top, and a yummy, juicy cherry on top of it all!"

A large sweat drop rolls behind the dense one's head as he forces a smile to hide his annoyance and thinks "_damn, she really bought her off good!_"

Phredia seems to smile sheepishly while patting the girl's teal hair, apparently apologizing for the obvious buyout that took place.

The little girl grabs her father's hand, looks up at him with a sad smile, then says "papa. Whatever you choose to do, I will stay with you, because you are my papa and I love you."

She kisses his cheek while he remains dumbstruck after that third sudden strike of words, then the bat youkai runs out the room, quickly followed by the elf fairy, and closes the door behind them.

Ail remains sitting on the edge of the bed, all those ailments returning to him, though lessened considerably, and while looking out the window he asks himself "should I go to the shrine then?"

He looks down at his hands again and asks "but what if I meet with Sanae? What will happen then? Can I keep this anger under control?"

The boy sighs as he rubs his head with both hands, then whispers "what a mess. This punishment is really something else."

Outside the door, Budou listens to her father talking to himself, and although saddened by what she hears, she thinks "_it's alright Budou. It's just like big-sis Suwako said. Oh, I just hope they don't hurt each other too badly, or I'm gonna... I'm gonna cry!_"

At the Moriya Shrine's lake, Suwako kneels on the water and sinks halfway before clenching her chest and shouting "augh! I just stabbed my own heart with that one!"

Kanako looks down from one of her sacred logs, drinks from her plate of sake, and slurs "thash wha shu geh for... er, bu-burden-botherin' that shhild *hic*" (That's what you get for burdening that child.)

The blonde goddess glares at her friend and shouts "hey, you drunkard! Stop drinking already! I need you focused and able to see straight!"

"Shaddap!", complains the air-headed goddess of war, then takes one last sip from her plate before passing out on her back.

* * *

At the City of Makai, the citizens run left and right, shops close, and everything seems in chaos while Yumeko's disembodied voice echoes all around.

"Move it you slowpokes! I don't want a single one of you out there while that goling's out there. Close those damned shops and get to the shelters, dammit!"

At that moment, Drake enters the city through the western side, looks around, then looks menacingly toward the sky when he hears Yumeko's voice as she says "oh shi-cra-DARN! Yes, that's the one! Darn! He's already in there, on the west. MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! I don't want anyone other than Sara and Luize out there!"

Since he's not welcome, the message sounds like a babble from a crazed old lady to him, a spell to scare off unwelcomed guests, but this only makes him more suspicious than scared.

He glares up to the sky, even after the voice has stopped, then says "better get my guard up. Seems they're preparing an ambush for me."

At Pandemonium, in a dark room full of monitors, keyboards and radios, the blonde maid places the microphone she was using on the table and pants while saying "ooh boy, I almost said a curse. Th-that was a close one! Ugh, but that guy moves so fast! I thought it would take him another hour to get there."

At the city's center, Luize, the happy sight-seeing Makaian, and Sara, the flexible-bodied dancing gate guard, fly over their fleeing brethren to the west to meet with Drake, and by the look on their glowering faces, they aren't very thrilled about their mission.

Luize has blond hair she hides under her white sunhat, has yellow eyes she keeps closed most of the time, and wears a white shirt and skirt with a purple neckerchief.

Sara has short and curly lilac hair, lilac eyes, and wears a red dress with white sleeves and a white scarf.

"Remember," begins the blonde, "if we can't get him to follow us peacefully, we'll have to resort to more drastic measures, but not give him reason to attack full-force."

The lilac-haired girl nods and says "gotcha sis. Um, but what if he uses that sword of his? That sounds like bad news the way Yumeko said mom talked about it."

Luize smiles sweetly at her sister, then says "if it comes to that, we turn tail and run home to mom, screaming like delicate young ladies."

Sara nods while thinking of the plan, then sighs and says "well, sounds reasonable enough."

She sighs again, moans while stretching her arms, then asks "would this be a bad moment to mention I'm not wearing my panties?"

The blonde Makaian sweats while seemingly glancing over at her sister, but other than a silent puff she says nothing of the matter.

Meanwhile, Drake continues his walk toward the center of the city in hopes of finding an exit, and as he does he glances all around himself, tense while expecting an attack from anywhere.

He feels something to his right and squints his eyes to the buildings in that direction, stops to get a better look, but when he sees nothing he straightens to resume his walk, and finds the two sisters smiling at him while flying five feet in the air, locking each others' arms together in a playful manner.

He narrows his eyes while the girls smile and wave at him, then Sara says "hey. How's it going?"

The godling quickly takes an attack position and threatens the girls "back you demons! One more step toward me and I'll turn you both into ashes!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Relax sir!", nervously says Luize as she raises her hands defensively, then says "look, we're not here to try to eat you or anything. We just want to lead you straight out of our home."

Drake snarls, summons his gauntlet of light to his left arm, then asks "and why should I believe you demons? What sort of half-assed ambush have you prepared for me?"

The blonde girl growls inward as a vein pulsates on her forehead, and summoning all her will to remain as calm as possible, she smiles as she happily says "because we don't like you. We don't want you in our home longer than you have! On short, please follow us so you can get the hell out of our asses and head back to Gensokyo."

Sara stares flatly at her sister, unwraps her arm from the sisterly lock to smack the blonde on the head, then angrily says "you idiot, that was NOT subtle! Yumeko specifically said to be nice enough for him to trust us, but not nice enough to make him want to stay longer!"

Luize punches her sister on the shoulder and says "well I'm **sorry** he's an insufferable bastard!"

She faces the boy and angrily says "so there you have it. You're a nuisance and we want you out, so please follow us and we'll-**EEK!**"

A ball of holy light grazes past the girls' cheeks, leaving a small cut on each, then vanishes when it reaches the sky.

Drake looks at his right hand and comments "what the hell is this place? I only used a little bit of power. That thing was far too bright."

The lilac-haired girl with a massive vein pulsating on her forehead and smaller ones on her fists, waves her arms around while shouting "what the HELL was that for you stupid bastard?"

"You're trying to trick me," begins the foolish god-in-training, taking flight and hovering eight feet above the ground to look down at the girls, then continues "I don't know what kind of idiot you think I am, but I honestly don't care! I'll just kill you and purify this land while I'm at it! **THEN** I'll go back to Gensokyo myself."

"Shit, RUN AWAY!", screams the blonde, and she and her sister immediately take flight toward the east.

From the black two-way radio on Sara's belt, Yumeko's furious voice shouts "**AAAAHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY TO HIIIIIIM?**"

Luize picks the radio and cries "he made me maaaaaaad!", then the red-dressed girl takes the radio and says "negotiations failed! We'll try to lead him away and..."

From Pandemonium, the maid turns a knob to switch the image on a screen in front of her, desperately looking for her sisters' and the godling's locations while holding the radio.

She waits long enough for Sara to speak and impatiently shouts "what? What the hell happened! Sara, Luize, answer me!"

From the radio, Sara shouts "argh! He's going to the houses! He wants to purify our homes!"

Yumeko gasps, opens her eyes wide, then says "this. is not. **good.**"

* * *

At the Scarlet Devil Mansion's basement, Flandre stretches out and yawns out loud after getting out of her room, smacks her lips while rubbing her sleepy eyes, the notices something in front of her.

She opens her eyes wide and gasps with great excitement when she realizes there is a black three-tailed cat in front of her, glaring at her with its glowing yellow eyes, its hair frizzing when it hisses at her and taking an offensive stance.

The blonde girl squeals with delight, reaches for the feline, and gleefully squeals "KITTYYYYY! It's a cute little kitty~!"

She rushes straight for the creature, but it jumps at the very last second and lets her fall on her face, lands on her back, then "**MMMRRREEEOOOOWWW,**" it scratches her back, the back of her head and her wings, ignoring her screams of pain, then jumps off her and hisses.

The little girl gets up with an enraged face, tears dangling under her eyes from the stinging pain, and quickly spots the cat in front of her and shouts "you stupid, **** mangy bastard, piece of ****, that **** HURT! **DIE BITCH!**"

She raises her right hand, but before she clenches it, she gasps with surprise and asks "wait a minute? What's this? Wh-where's your eye?"

The nekomata roars as it quickly ruses toward the girl's face, but stops a mere whisker away from a flying knife to the face and lands safely away from the vampire.

Sakuya has appeared behind the offending creature, with her eyes glowing red from rage and a look that could kill instantly.

"Are you alright young mistress?", asks the maid in a cold and dark tone.

Flandre looks at the silver-haired girl and says "that thing can't go kyuun! And it made me hurt too! **KILL IT!**"

The little black cat hisses threateningly and rushes straight at the maid, growling while glaring at her with its glowing eyes.

It jumps at her face, so she raises her knives and swings exactly where his face is, however the cat dives at the last second, runs between the maid's legs, making her shudder, then hisses as though laughing when behind the woman.

Sakuya turns around with that deadly glare, but quickly changes to surprise and blushes tomato red before asking "goddamned cat, how the hell you do that?"

The black cat seems to grin wide as it places its paws on the maid's grounded bloomers, and before said girl can react, the sweet little creature shreds the drawers to bits and pieces and runs away hissing a cheap laugh.

Meanwhile, at the library, Lina is picking up books by the entrance, while Leon gives his love some warm tea over by one of the central desks, and Koakuma is looking around random bookshelves for more books for their research.

The light-blue haired girl at the entrance picks of a fifth book by the door and casually comments "oh, how to summon magical animals. Sweet."

The doors burst open with a powerful bang and the poor girl is sent flying to the other side of the library, while the black cat screeches and rushes inside, and Sakuya roars furiously as she runs after it while trying, but failing, to shower the beast with knives.

"**Come back here you little creep!**" screams the maid at the top of her lungs while chasing after the speedy, agile feline.

Patchouli bangs her hands on the table and stands up, scowling angrily at her surroundings a she asks "what's the meaning of all this noise? How am I supposed to read like this?"

"**I'll kill you!**", screams the maid after the cat zips by the librarian.

"A cat?", asks the purple bean sprout, then she sucks on her lips as her face turns as pale as that of a ghost, and screams when the maid tackles her to the ground, where a knife on her butt becomes exposed as she moans in pain.

The three-tailed cat jumps on Leon's head, who had resumed picking up books only a few feet away from Patchouli, and he stares at the fleeing black cat with wonder and asks "since when did Miss Remilia get a cat?"

He turns his head around when Sakuya roars, then all he sees are stars and bright lights when the chief maid's knee smashes against his nose, sending him flying tree feet away.

"What is the meaning of all this?", demands Koakuma as she descends from the second floor, carrying the unconscious Lina on her arms, then gasps when she sees Patchouli on her stomach with a knife on her butt, and Leon on his back with a bruised right eye.

Further ahead, the nekomata reaches a dead end and Sakuya smiles with vile glee at her fortune, coldly saying "o-ho-ho-ho~, I got you now. I'm going to make Miss Flandre a nice pair of mittens with your skin!"

The cat meows calmly and sits down, curls its tails around itself while the maid gets closer, and just stares as the mad woman gets closer.

The girl takes her knife, cackles as she gets closer to her prey, then the cat jumps at the last second, lands on Sakuya's face, grins, and the poor maid screams as the little beast scratches her hair, face and chest.

The cat runs back to the exit, and Sakuya gets out of the dead end with scratches all over her face, her chest, her shirt is torn, her right braid is undone, and her red eyes glow with pure rage as she growls at the little monster.

"I am going to **cook you for TONIGHT'S DINNER!**" screams Izayoi as she flies after the now frightened feline.

She stretches her arm and reaches for it, she's only an inch away from grabbing one of those three tails.

Sakuya can see how Koakuma turns around with a look of terror on her face, then the sight changes to that of stars and sparks that come with blinding pain.

A symphony of moans ring from the pile of bodies, consisting of the maid on top of the devil, on top of the twins, on top of the magician, and the content black nekomata casually walks over and rubs its side on the maid's arm.

It walks away, stops, turns around with an evil grin and Sakuya's white brassiere on its evil little paws, then shreds it to bits and pieces before her very eyes, then meows and walks away with its three tails raised.

Sakuya moans, then grumbles "I hate that cat."

Koakuma groans and whimpers "at least I pulled the knife out in time."

Lina moans, then complains "the library is still moving."

Leon sighs and contently says "my love smells like a jasmine."

Patchouli whines and cries "mukyuuun, I lost something today."

Flandre stands to the left of the pile, tapping her foot impatiently, crossing her arms under her chest, and looking down at the bodies she says "I know that's a cat from hell, but this is still incredibly embarrassing to look at."

"Please close your eyes young mistress," begs the sobbing maid with twin waterfall tears on the face.

Meiling walks by from behind the pile and asks "hey, what's going on?", then looks up Sakuya's skirt as some unexplained wind lifts it, and she gasps, covers her nose, blood explodes between her fingers, and she falls on her back with pink cheeks and a blissful smile, chuckling.

* * *

It is midday when Ail arrives to the front of the Moriya Shrine's donation box and starts looking around in hopes that Sanae is nowhere near the place.

He sighs with relief and softly says to himself "phew, good. It looks like she's not here."

"Who's not here?", coldly asks that familiar voice that sends cold chills down the boy's spine and makes him regret going there.

Sanae walks out of the shadows behind the donation box, asking "Lady Yasaka? Or maybe Lady Moriya? Or perhaps the one person you don't want to see is me?"

The dense one shivers as he tries his best not to frown, feeling the urge to tackle that girl and wring her neck while thinking "_this isn't good. I'm angry at her. I want to kill her! But why? I love her! Why do I feel like this?_"

"Perhaps I should ask you another question then," begins the wind priestess as she walks down the steps to the box, and asks "why didn't you tell me about going to the past? About Reimu and Sariel, and your damned blunder?"

His anger suddenly turns to guilt and his face takes a pitiable look after he gulps and says "I, uh, don't know. I-it's so confusing. I just tried to help, and-and Eiki got mad, yelled at me, Mima got mad, and-"

"And here I was, fighting Reimu for you, getting cursed, hurt and almost killed for you without knowing what the hell was going on exactly," begins the maiden with a dark tone as she gets closer to the boy, her face home to the worst frown ever made by the girl as she continue "all because **you** made yet another stupid decision. Your lack of judgment was just... disgusting Ail, and it almost cost me dearly."

Sanae stands right in front of the boy and pokes his chest with her finger while threateningly saying "and then you had the guts to shout at me; blame **ME** because I just made you a little more assertive. Yes, blame the inexperienced shrine maiden, right? It's always easier that way."

"What happened yesterday was something that needed to happen," barks the boy, daring to poke the girl on the head and saying "because **you**, and **Reimu**, and **Mima**, and **everyone** around thinks that you can do whatever the **hell **you want to me! I! am not! a toy! And I believe I made that point very clear."

The maiden narrows her eyes as she takes a few steps back and slowly draws her gohei from her vest while saying "oh yes, you're absolutely right. You're just an ass that keeps doing things without thinking, forgetting that every action has a reaction that also affects those closest to him."

She summons a powerful wind to herself as she holds her gohei diagonally across her chest and says "you are not that man I fell in love with. You are just another commoner in the ranks of that world outside."

Ail sighs, knowing his own powers are messed up and yet is at the very doorstep of yet another fight he cannot hope to win, but something inside his head won't permit him to back away.

He shakes his head while looking at the ground, somehow manages to successfully summon his own energy, then looks up at the girl and says "so this is how it's going to be."

"This is Gensokyo. There's no other way around it. A danmaku fight will settle this," replies the maiden as she locks her eyes on the boy.

The dense one locks his eyes on hers, grins in an vile way, then coldly and confidently says "I'll just beat you like last time then," and right after saying that, he thinks in his normal tone of voice "_what the hell am I saying? Wait, Sanae! Stop! I-I can't stop myself!_"

The couple take flight and stare at each other as though issuing a challenge for the first attack, then both rise above the trees to begin the fight.

* * *

Sanae showers the boy with pink charms and bright stars in waves and arcs, and Ail showers the girl with dim blue lasers and grey petal-shaped bullets that dance around each other.

The maiden's bullets break through his own easily, and the dense one finds himself dodging more than he can shoot while thinking "_this is no good! My body can't access all its power! Argh, this is so frustrating! I don't want to lose to her now! Who knows what her demands will be if she does!_"

"Fight back you bastard!", demands the blue and white as she waves her gohei and summons a gust of wind that pushes the boy back with ease.

"What the hell is this? Kanako said you were strong enough to contend against Yukari, so stop holding back and FIGHT!"

Ail growls and bares his teeth at the girl, raises a spell card, then says "you want me to fight, then take this! Mad Waves, Raging Waves!"

Six pairs of eight large blue orbs set themselves around the boy, two of them vertical, and start showering small blue shards straight at the maiden, and just as those reach her the large orbs fly to her and are followed by magical water waves.

But the bullets move slow and the waves look like peaceful streams, and Sanae finds herself dodging the danmaku at a very comfortable pace while hammering the boy with one star after another, and even manages a large red pentagram that smacks him on the chest.

The dense boy roars "what the hell is wrong with these spells?"

Sanae playfully declares "if that's all, then it's my turn now. Sea Opening, Moses' Miracle!"

Ail's own water spell splits apart and merges with the maiden's miracle waters on the sides, and before he can curse she's shooting him with red and blue chain-like bullets surrounded in a flaming aura.

He tries shooting lasers and petals again, but they are instantly consumed by the active spell, leaving him defenseless.

He manages to miraculously graze the first set of chains and quickly flies toward the maiden for a direct offense.

The dense one charges up a strong orange orb and packs it with enough explosive energy to knock the girl down at once; or so he believes.

Sanae watches as the boy dodges the chains by moving to the left and gazes with disinterest at the orange orb of energy on his hands.

He is now three feet away and winding that orb for the shot, and all she does is sigh and shake her head, then nonchalantly shoots another set of red and blue chains.

The foolish boy doesn't notice the water wave so close to him and gets struck before he can throw the charged-up orb.

Ail screams as the magical waves burn his skin, then everything stops.

The blue and white maiden cancels her spell and flies straight at the boy with her gohei wound up beside her waist, and when he manages to see straight again he gasps and somehow opens a gap behind himself, appearing seven feet away from the girl and avoiding a solid strike from her weapon.

She glares at him and shouts "I'll give you one more chance! One more spell, Ail! And don't you dare run away now!"

The dense boy roars, frustrated at himself and his lack of power, and furious at this girl that keeps on talking inside his mind, nagging him on and on even after the real Sanae has shut up.

He slowly nods, then shouts "I've been taking it easy on you! This time I attack with everything!"

"Good," whispers the girl as she prepares for the next attack.

The boy gets aggressive and starts shooting smaller bullets of his focused exploding orange orbs, managing to overwhelm the shrine maiden and keep her busy dodging through explosive bullets.

He smiles and chuckles victoriously, though sweats as his body overheats for overdoing himself in his current state.

Sanae grunts when several of those bullets graze her legs and hips and explode on impact, but she's not giving up.

She finds a small blind spot between the shower of bullets and moves diagonally to it, swiftly draws a blue pentagram and spins it with her gohei, making it consume the dense one's bullets and increase in power.

The brown-haired boy groans and stops shooting, then remains on one same spot, panting hard after overexerting himself so much, and thinks "_alright, this should do it. Now to finish her with a spell-_"

His train of thought is immediately halted when a blue pentagram strikes his forehead, leaving a nasty burn mark on him.

"What the heck?", exclaims the surprised boy as he holds his forehead.

The wind priestess is batting the spinning pentagram and splitting it into smaller pieces that leave very little room to dodge in between, and when she realizes he's looking at her she shouts "keep your eyes on your opponent you idiot!"

Like night to day, the exhaustion Ail was feeling is gone and an overwhelming feeling of rage flows all through his body, and with a spell card clenched tightly on his right hand he shouts "**IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT! I need to teach you stuck-up girls what this idiot can do! Blast Sign, Expansion that Soothes!**", then flies straight at her at full speed.

A large bead of sweat rolls down Sanae's forehead as she clicks her tongue, and though scowling she nervously says to herself "shit, I think I pushed him too far," then flies away with great haste, pushing herself with gusts of wind on her feet for greater speed.

The boy continues flying straight at the maiden, shooting strong blue lasers and blue orbs while shouting "come back here Sanae! You're the one that wanted to fight, so come and fight!"

Sanae knows if even one of those things touch her the dense boy is going to regain a lot of his strength and probably beat her, so she says to herself "alright, no choice now. Might hurt a bit afterward, but..."

She grabs hold of her nose as she takes a spell card from her pocket, rises very suddenly with the help of some powerful gusts of wind and loops over Ail, releases her nose as she flies closer behind him, then declares "Snake Sign, Orochi of Ancient Times!"

Before the boy's brain can register what has happened, he gasps at the sight of a giant white snake coming straight at him with its mouth wide open, and long before he can even think of escaping, he is consumed by it and trapped inside the darkness.

Images of old memories appear in front of himself, one is of the first time he and Kyo entered Gensokyo and met Reimu.

A wolf youkai, which they called a demon at that time, was just about to eat them when several sealing talismans and green stars struck it down, and when they look up, there are Reimu and Marisa looking down on them.

The maiden smiles, blushes and giggles and says "_y-young man, are you alright?_", then stretches her hand and offers to fly him to her shrine.

"Wait a minute. Th-this isn't what happened," comments the boy as the scene changes to the time when Patchouli's lust spell had affected all the girls in Gensokyo, and finishes saying "she was very nonchalant about us, and made us walk behind her, up all those stairs."

He now watches in the next memory as he erects a blue barrier far more powerful than what he could have really done so during that time so long ago, to block Remilia's thirty-seven plus Spear of the Gungnir to protect Reimu and himself, and after the blast, he gasps when he looks back and asks "_are you alright Reimu?_"

She breathes through her mouth as though exhausted and wheezes "_n-no. Too weak. I can't fly,_" then Ail offers himself to take her home and carries her princess style back to her shrine.

As he watches this, he says "but this is not what I remember! Remilia had used Scarlet Devil that night, bu-bu-but... I do remember this other memory as well. What does this mean?"

Just as the image shows the red and white maiden stealing a kiss when in the shrine, the scene changes to the time he sneaked into hell to fight that red spirit that had possessed him so long ago.

He watches as he swings the melting blade to cut the red spirit's tail, but stops halfway when the spirit screams "_if you kill me, I'll take Reimu and Sanae WITH me!_"

The memories seem to freeze as Ail shouts "NO! That's not how it happened! I cut the bond and left!"

He suddenly finds himself on the grounds of the Moriya Shrine once again with Sanae standing to his right and coldly saying "good, you're awake. Now you can get up and leave."

Ail blinks twice, shakes his head to wake up, then slowly sits up and stares at the shrine maiden.

She bares her teeth and angrily says "didn't you hear me? Get out of here!"

A tear rolls down her cheek, betraying her look of hatred, then the boy, shedding a single tear of his own says "I think I know how to fix this now. I think... I can make it so everything can return to normal."

Sanae frowns, her lips tremble, then she turns around and through a cracking voice she sniffles and says "good. Then go ahead and fix this. But while you do I'm going to have to ask you to stay away from me. Looking at you really hurts."

She starts her walk back to the shrine when the boy softly says "I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you, or anyone. What I did back there didn't seem to have caused anything negative. How wrong I was."

The girl stops, a sob escapes her, then she turns her neck to show him her crying face, a hurtful sight for him, and cries "you should have told me what happened! I love you Ail, and I would have helped you through this! Now it's too late!"

She turns around again and continues her walk, sobbing before crying "now get out of here, and please don't come looking for me."

The dense boy clenches his chest when the feeling of anger and hatred seems to mix with the feeling of love and compassion inside his heart, and as he stands up he whispers "I love you too, so very darn much," then takes flight to the opposite direction.

From behind the shrine, the goddesses watch as the couple go their separate ways, then Kanako angrily whispers "you really think he got it? You know how thick he can be."

Suwako nods and says "yeah, he got it, and seems he found the solution as well. Now all we have to do is hope that hag keeps her end of the deal."

The goddess of wind and war looks down at her friend, her lips wriggle, then she asks "wait, how did you manage to manipulate his dreams like that?"

The little goddess turns around with a confident grin on her face and says "because he has great faith in me, so I got a little bit more influence on him than you. And I didn't manipulate anything, just made him see the memories more clearly."

Somehow that annoys the goddess in red, but she's not in the mood to fight, so she just shrugs and walks out of hiding, saying "my turn to comfort Sanae."

Kero-chan groans and says "man, what a rotten deal! Well she's mine next time!"

* * *

Back at Makai, several houses in the urban area have been leveled by the hell unleashed by Drake Starstriker.

Even with Mai, Sara and Luize shooting him in an attempt to draw his attention, he continues to smash houses with magic and his fists and that gauntlet, and shouts "I'll find your lord and purify this entire land in the name of the gods!"

At the same time, Yumeko's voice echoes all over the city and urbanization as she shouts "just GET OUTTA THERE you bastard! Mai, Sara, Luize, don't get too close, but get him out of there, for Shinki's sake!"

The godling still can't understand what the voice says because of the spell, but he still points at the sky and shouts "come down here and fight you coward! I want to finish this once and for all!"

Meanwhile, Yuki flies above the city with a pair of tears flowing down her cheeks while she cries "auuu~ Rika-sis is a meanie-head. Why do I have to wear this pink bikini?", then quickly recomposes and says "oh, that's right..."

Moments earlier, at the Hakurei Shrine's lake, the fire witch wears a pink bikini with a white flower on the chest between the cups, and cries twin waterfalls while the shrine maid says "and you'll be wearing this all day today, and don't even try to take it off, or it will get tighter. And if you try to throw it away it will just come back. Oh, and it's also fire-proof, so no burning spell will work on it."

The witch wines "but it's so pink. Can't you add some black?"

"But you look so cute in that," replies the shrine maid. "Besides, while you wears this, I want you to imagine yourself burning that woman in your mind, beating her up, and making her EAT the pink dress. Got it?"

The eager Makaian understands the plan and nods with a smile while saying "oh, I get it! Part of the training."

Rika smiles and nods, then Suzaku lands on her master's shoulder and says "_that's right sweetie. But remember to come back tomorrow after you rested so we can continue working on that pink-phobia of yours._"

Back at present Yuki smiles with confidence as she says "yes! Rika-sis is just looking out for me! Just you wait and see! When I get back, they'll be- Huh? **HEY, THAT'S MAI!**"

When she finally looks down she can see the boy gripping her winged sister by the neck and squeezing her with that gauntlet of his, and after the initial shock passes she shouts "HEY! What's going on?"

Drake frowns when his grip can't break the girl's neck from her body, so he growls and says "tough little demon," then starts draining her magic and makes her scream.

Sara and Luize call for her sister and aim to shoot, but when a black blur tackles his back and sends him crashing through a house, they open their eyes wide with surprise and blink, forgetting their attacks.

"YUKI!", exclaims Luize, and the fire witch, holding her sister by the hip, flies up while glowering at Sara and furiously asks "who the hell let that idiot in here?"

Yumeko's voice loudly says "we don't know! He appeared in the wastelands and started attacking us when we tried to get him out!"

The fire witch growls and says "and I can't summon Rika or Alice to help. Fine, hold this!"

She tosses the weakened ice witch at Luize, then immediately dives down to confront the godling, even with her gate-guarding sister shouting "no wait, are you INSANE? He's incredibly strong!"

The very moment the crazy girl touches the ground she points inside the house and shouts "HEY! ASS-HEAD! Get the HELL out of my house and get the HELL out of Makai before I KICK YOUR DAMMED ASS OUT!"

At first there is not even sound of movement from within the house, then the boy jumps out and swings his gauntlet at the girl's face, but she pulls her head back to dodge, then shoots a burst of fire on the god-in-training's face.

He yelps with surprise and stumbles backward, but recovers quickly and lunges a knee forward.

The blonde hops while spreading her legs, lands on her hands on his thigh and pushes herself higher, then flip-kicks the right of his head, earning claps and cheers from her Makaian brethren.

At the Hakurei Shrine, Suzaku perches on Rika's shoulder and asks "_master, what did you add to that garment?_"

The maid giggles while covering her mouth, then says "the flower and the straps were synthesized with a spell to increase her agility and the power of her flames."

The bird tweets and says "_ahh, an excellent idea. She'll associate her newfound agility and powers with the pink bikini, and therefore-_"

"Will start thinking pink isn't so bad," finishes the maid while looking at the vermilion bird in the eyes.

Rika giggles and Suzaku squawks as though laughing, then said bird says "_master, you are a genius!_"

Back at Makai, Drake throws a punch at Yuki's chest, but she sways right, traps his arm against her forearm and chest, then head-butts the boy right between the eyes, making him groan and back away while covering his face.

Before he recovers she takes a spell card on hand and shouts "Flaming Acceleration!", then as soon as her body is surrounded by a ball of fire, she zips straight at the god, punches his gut, uppercuts him, kicks him while he's still in mid-air, then shoots a massive fireball that engulfs him immediately.

The boy screams as the flames consume his skin, and the entire City of Makai, as well as the girls, all cheer for Yuki, who thinks "_u-fu-fu-fu~ Rika sis, you really came through. I KNEW this bikini was more than just a punishment! I owe her a cola for this one!_"

The flaming girl turns around and bows at her adoring public, then Drake jumps from the ground, unsheathes his sword, and roars like a beast as he lunges straight at her.

Even with her spell and Rika's bikini augmenting her speed, the fire girl know it's too late to dodge, but she is saved by a blast of ice from the sky that freezes the boy's arm over his head.

Yuki flips a thumb up to the sky and exclaims "awesome one Mai! Thanks!"

The ice witch looks a little tired, but as tired as she is she flips her thumb up and says "no problem. We'll back you up, you kick his ass."

* * *

Drake breaks the ice and roars once more as he swings his sword at the blonde's neck.

Yuki ducks, then thrust-punches him on the stomach and shouts "you guys can join in at any time!"

The bandana boy coughs and groans, uses his sword to remain standing while he holds his chest, and after clearing his throat he says "well, you are. quite the warrior. young lady. Forgive me. I'll stop holding back and. hit you with everything I've got."

A bead of sweat rolls down Yuki's forehead as she smiles and says to herself "everything he's- Oh shit."

In a flash he's swinging his sword at her head and she dodges, he thrusts forward and she somehow sways right, he grabs her neck, she shouts "Cooking Under the Moon!", and her spell card activates inside her pocket, lifting her skirt and exposing her pink bikini bottom.

Several noses bleed, including Luize's, Mai's and Sara's, but not Drake, who gasps when four large fireballs hover near Yuki's shoulder and start shooting smaller fireballs at him, and as soon as the boy releases her neck she shoots her own massive fireball that explodes on his face and shatters into smaller red shards that burn and cut his skin.

Though the godling screams as he is being burned, Mai doesn't want to take the chance, takes her own spell card, and shouts "Songs of the Demonic Snowstorm!"

Her small angelic wings grow and turn demonic, then five massive icicles fall straight down, crashing on the ground and turning into ice shards that shape large snowflakes that home in on the targeted boy.

It's by now that Mai would also be shooting lasers, but instead she descends slowly, grimacing as she wills herself to keep her spell active.

Luize calls for her sister, but quickly frowns and says "we better help too Sara," then raises a spell card and declares "Traveling for the Sights!"

She raises her finger above her head and summons thin straight lines of blue petal bullets, one of them falling right on the godling's head and making him scream when so many attacks combine, yet he still shouts "**I'll kill you all for thiiiiis!**"

The sunhat blonde clicks her tongue and summons red daggers that fall uneven and diagonally, then shouts "you won't get the chance! Sara, one more should do it!"

The lilac-haired girl grins viciously, raises a spell card, and declares "Dance Sign, Ballroom Elegance!"

She raises her right hand and holds her waist with her left, then begins twirling in the air as though dancing by herself, and her raised finger releases medium orbs that arc as they spread, and her own body releases several multi-colored orbs that scatter about, and when enough of those orbs have exploded on the godling's body, she points at him and shoots a trio of red lasers from her fingertips.

The four spells strike him hard, and all Drake can do at the moment is scream with the pain, then Yuki shouts "just a little more. He's almost do-! M-Mai?"

The ice witch lands softly on the roof of Yuki's house and slowly lets herself drop on top of her stomach while whispering "too weak. T-too tired. I'm sorry."

The very moment Mai's spell cancels, Drake darts out of the center of the blasts and rushes toward Luize.

Yuki cancels her spell and chases after him, still engulfed in flames and matching him in speed.

She tackles him before he can harm her sister and shoots a quick flare at his eyes, then shouts "**get Mai out of here, now!**"

Sara flies swiftly toward her sister, but the boy is faster and dive-kicks her on the back before even the fire witch can notice, then he goes straight for Luize, bends her arm backward until she screams, smiles with delight, then says "demons will suffer the wrath of the light," then strikes the back of her neck with the hilt of his sword and sends her falling to the ground.

Yuki roars furiously and is already punching his face before she even realizes she's hitting him.

She kicks his stomach and makes him cough all his air out, kicks the sword right out of his hand, fire-punches him in the left eye, chases after him and knees his back, and as she waits for him to fall back down she prepares a fireball above her head.

As he falls past her she throws the massive fireball on his stomach, forcing him to cough some blood and preventing him from screaming when all his air leaves his lungs, and right after he falls into a hole made with his own body on the ground, the fire witch rushes around to assist her sister.

She takes Mai off the roof and gets her into the house, grabs Luize's unconscious self before she slips into a dark well in the center of the urbanization and takes her into the house, then finds Sara behind the very same house and takes her inside.

She exits her home through the hole and confidently says "don't worry girls, I'll protect you... uuu~," but exhaustion finally catches up with her.

Her buffing spell fizzles and she falls on her shaking knees, her vision becomes blurred and doubled, but even so she can see Drake's frame standing in front of her with his sword already back on his hands.

The boy laughs and says "that's the problem with enhancement spells and garments. If your body isn't used to the strain it's going to exhaust itself after a while. Now then..."

He starts waking toward the blonde and says "seeing as your lord hasn't come, that means he doesn't really care for you, so I'll be eliminating you all and ridding you of your misery, taking you all back to the light."

"Shinki. is a **LADY!** you stupid prick," grunts Yuki between pants.

Drake only chuckles and smiles before raising his sword, then swings straight at the girls face.

Metal and metal clang after clashing against each other when Yumeko arrives at the last second with her short sword sideways to protect her sister.

Her arms tremble as she pushes back against the godling and says "you performed beautifully. I'm making you a special meal every day for a week after today!"

"If you survive, that is," smugly adds the boy with an irritating grin.

The maid roars as she manages to push him back, breathes hard through her mouth, then points at him and threateningly says "you should have left when you had the chance! Now you will DIE where you stand!"

* * *

Yumeko begins her attack with a sideway swing from her sword, and immediately finds herself overwhelmed when the brown-haired boy deflects her offense and counters mercilessly.

As she blocks the relentless attacks she thinks "_dammit, he's a lot stronger than I thought! Guh, if I keep this up, he'll kill us all! I have to think of something!_"

Drake continues his attacks while thinking "_this one's strong. I might have some trouble. Wait, my holy magic seems heightened in here. Yeah, that's what I'll do._"

The maid parries the boy's next attack, kicks him on the hip, shoots a green ball of energy at that hip, then lifts a spell card and shouts "Dream Sign, And it Came From Nowhere!"

She lifts to the sky and hovers five feet up then throws one short sword after another to her sides while the godling flies after her, but is stopped when those swords start flying sideways at random rhythms beside him, forming a metal grid, then the maid herself starts shooting large green energy orbs in arcs at the boy.

Drake manages to block many of the swords, but gets cut lightly by most, and yet he continues flying forward while dodging the orbs by going through their gaps.

The blonde maid suddenly shoots two green laser beams that trap the god-in-training between them, then throws more orbs while holding him in place, as well as adding more short swords to the attack.

"ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP!", shouts the bandana boy, then he lifts his hand and says "take some purifying light!"

A large orb of white light appears over the palm of his hand, glowing blindingly bright, then from the orb itself fly several white lasers that strike Yuki on the ground and Yumeko in front of the boy.

The girls scream as the beams engulf their bodies and punishes them with a piercing burning pain that travels through their entire being, forcing the blond witch to drop on her stomach to writhe around and the blonde maid to cancel her spell and slowly descend.

He laughs as their screams weaken, knowing they are slowly dying, then happily says "if you two had worked together I would have been a goner. THIS, is a sign that I, as a god in training, am blessed by the divine! My mission to purify the universe **WILL** set the worlds into the right path, and peace will be attained for all."

He grunts loudly when the sunhat woman tackles him hard and saves the girls from death by purification.

Luize has awakened, but her hair and neckerchief have turned blue and her eyes glow ominously red as she stares emotionless toward the divine murderer.

She lifts her hand to shoot her bullets, but Drake is already on his feet and running toward Yumeko with his sword raised.

The maid holds her head as she stumbles to keep on her feet, and even though her vision is still blurred she summons a short sword and readies herself.

She closes her eyes, shakes her head to recover, then she can hear the sound of skin being pierced, blood splashes on her face, and when she opens her eyes, her sight renewed, she gasps and chokes while trying to speak.

Drake clicks his tongue and grumbles "darn it, I missed," then shrugs and winds his sword arm to push the blade even further, but is blasted by a fireball and an icicle before he can.

Yumeko drops on her knees and catches Luize's limp body before it hits the ground, a bloody thin hole going through her chest and back, and as the girl recovers her usual blond hair and purple neckerchief, she smiles at the maid, her hat drops to the ground, she places a hand on her sister's left cheek, then collapses.

"**LUIZE! Luize, wake up!**", desperately screams the maid in hopes of waking her sister up, but the godling has other plans, and is rushing toward the girls with his sword raised.

The ground opens beneath the offending boy and magma rises like a geyser, sending him flying fifty feet to the air, where the clouds immediately turn black and bolts of yellow and red lightning punish his body relentlessly.

Shinki appears in a burst of flame in front of her gathering girls, smiling, yet remaining quiet, and kneels in front of Yumeko and Luize, then signals Mai, Yuki and Sara to stand back.

"M-mom! I'm sorry, I messed up! I got careless-"

The goddess places a gentle finger on the maid's lips to stop her crying, smiles, then grabs a fistful of dirt from the ground, places it on the sword wound on Luize's chest, and with a soft gesture of her hand the wound on the chest and back seal up.

Before the girls can speak, the goddess of Makai stands up to glare a the falling body of the murderous godling, and doesn't even blink after he crashes hard on one of the broken houses, lifting a cloud of dust on impact.

The boy stands up as though nothing has happened to him, though his clothes tell another tale.

His pants and vest look a bit burned and tattered, his shirt is completely gone, save for a few pieces of it around his neck and left arm, yet he still dares glower at the godlike woman with light-blue hair.

Shinki raises her arm and points at the intruder, her glowering face retaining a sense of serene elegance as she does, eve with her eyes glowing blood red, and her voice, dark and cold, echoes all over Makai as she says "Drake Starstriker, from the world of light and darkness perfectly balanced by your own hands. You have violated your agreement upon taking the test of the gods. You attempted to take an innocent life due to your own blindness. As such, I am now forced to raise my own hand against you."

Thunder roars in the sky as black clouds gather above the boy, and the goddess continues "however, I will give you one chance to accept my children's offer and be guided out of these lands. Decline, and I **WILL** show you the true power of a **real** god. Know that you have awakened my rage, so I suggest you use that heightened mind and choose wisely. Ten seconds to decide."

The foolish godling scoffs and asks "**INNOCENT?** It's a world of DEMONS, and you dare call that an innocent life?", then he raises his sword and threateningly says "sound like you're just another one of these-"

Before his sentence ends, the ground beneath him rises and squeezes him tight between jagged rocks.

He screams and groans as some blood flies out of his mouth, his gauntlet of light disappears, then the ground opens up and another geyser of magma sends him flying high to the sky, where the clouds punish his body with bright blue bolts of lightning, numbing his entire body, causing him to drop his sword.

Shinki takes flight and softly says "stay put my children. Whatever you do, do not move from where you are," then chases after Drake's shrinking frame as it is spun in the air by a pair of tornadoes.

The goddess approaches the boy incredibly fast, yet looking casual as she moves forward, then gently waves her arms apart to call off the tornadoes and allowing him to fall, but not before sending more bolts to punish his body some more.

They are now beside the city when a giant iceberg falls from the clouds and shatters on top of him, smashing his body against the ground and forcing a painful groan out of him, then the ground rises again, forming a giant pair of hands of stone and dirt, and while one hand holds him, the other rises with his own sword on its palm.

The Makaian Goddess lifts her hands to raise the dirt-hands until the boy is close to her, and with a sweetly cold voice she says "let's see how you like it when your own sword pierces your flesh, even though you are _innocent_."

His face shows the true horror he feels, but there's still defiance in his eyes, yet he tries to shout, beg for mercy, but the sword is lunged straight into his chest and he screams out loud, his breath cut short by the pain inflicted from his own sword.

The hand throws him toward the forest before the city and Shinki follows, looking calm and serene, yet emanating a dangerous aura that suggest otherwise.

Drake's weakened limp body smacks against a tree, which holds its ground well, then moves its branches to grab the boy and squeezes him so tight the sword pops out of his chest and falls back to the ground.

Shinki floats above him, thunder and lightning striking behind her and making her look far more menacing, then she lifts her arms above her head, a spell card floats above her hands, and she shouts "hold him for me! Great Magic, God's Recitation!"

She grows three pair of black wings with glowing red veins on her back and immediately shoots four thick red lasers from them, pushing herself upward from the force of the spell, and immediately adds strings of red petal bullets, white orbs that fall scattered, black orbs that seek the boy, and finally the red lasers start dancing around.

The tree lifts its branch higher so that the screaming boy can take more of his punishment.

He screams and shouts curses at the goddess, threatens her with promises of death, then Shinki coldly says "and this is why you will never be a god, Starstriker."

She aims every single bullet straight at him, causing him to scream louder, then stops and grabs him from the burned branches, bows her head to the tree, then swings the godling around and throws him straight toward the gate to Gensokyo.

His sword flies from the ground to her hand, she stares at it with disdain, then throws it backward toward the entrance and says "and take this with you, even though you are unworthy of wielding such a magnificent tool."

The boy spins straight into the gate, followed swiftly by the backward-flying sword, then Shinki grimaces and says "pity I can't kill him. He'll wake up healed in just a few hours and probably try to kill some other unfortunate soul," then she snarls with disgust and spits "stupid gods and their rules."

She turns around, the skies clearing and the ground returning to normal as she slowly calms down, then says to herself "better go check on the girls."

* * *

Meanwhile, underneath the Youkai Forest, right in front of the Kappa-Pa resort's main doors, Minamitsu bangs on the closed gates with her anchor while furiously demanding "come on out you outdated piece of recycled hardware! Today we settled this!"

She wears a tight black rubber outfit with a lowered hood, and has a steeled look of resolve on her face.

After the next set of anchor-bangings on the gate, the doors open up, and from the other side the holographic woman in red sighs with annoyance and asks "are you still after my lady's swimsuit?"

"Nitori will be the spoils of war, my hated lady," says the captain with a smile, then points at the woman and shouts "but now is not the time for that! Now is the time for me to kick your butt all over the place! And where are you hiding Nitori?"

Julia adjusts her glasses, sends a dangerous flashing glare Murasa's way, then says "that's **Lady** Nitori for you! And she's out on an errand."

"Good," whispers the captain, grinning ever so vilely wile thinking "_excellent! I can beat this bitch up and my dear kappa won't have to see me do it._"

She chuckles and says to herself "heh, heh-heh. Do-it."

The holographic woman smiles as she removes her digital glasses, places them on her pocket, her eyes turn red, then says "you are right. It is a good thing. It means I won't have to hold back on the intruder."

The anchor strikes the woman from the side and sends her flying right out from under the gateway and bouncing on the cold hard rocks outside.

After finally stopping, Julia lifts her head, growls furiously, then angrily says "ah, I see. Rubber. Smart little ghost bitch."

"And that's not all~," confidently sings Minamitsu after taking a spell card from her pocket, then lifts her hood up, covering her hair and ears, leaving only her face free, and says "I am going to fry your circuitry with THIS baby!"

The computer woman grunts, the perverted captain grins as she lifts her spell card, then declares "Flood, Venus of the Bilge! MUAHAHAHAHAHA~!"

The captain takes her ladle on hand and swings it hard, releasing a ridiculous amount of water from inside of it.

Julia just stands where she is, glowering and growling at the girl as the water gets closer, analyzing all her options and quickly running out.

Minamitsu moves closer to the hologram with every swing, making sure to wet the entire underground cave as she does, and when in range she shouts "take THIS! Murasa gut kick!"

She kicks the computer on the stomach and wets her with the ladle, and even though the woman crackles with the many electric sparks around her, the insane captain remains unaffected by the electricity.

Murasa swings her ladle again, getting Julia wet again and making her wince, then shouts "captain's face-breaker!", then punches the hologram on the face, making the image frizzle on contact.

"And last, but not least," declares the rubber suited psycho while throwing more water from her bottomless ladle, "CAPTAIN MURASA'S CROTCH KIIIIIIICK!"

She spins backward in front of the woman until she picks up a lot of momentum, then lifts her right leg and kicks Julia's crackling image between the legs, slicing through her entire holographic body as the leg quickly breaks through the projection.

The red woman's image is distorted and shooting electric sparks everywhere, and yet she remains as she was, glowering at the captain while looking for an opening.

Minamitsu stands proud with a smile that goes from ear to ear, then proudly declares "I have defeated you, oh technological bitch from hell! Now Nitori belongs to me, and I will hear no buts, peeps, or even whimpers out of you!"

The computer bows her head slightly, then smiles and says "fine, but before you can have Lady Nitori, I must train you in the ways of proper kappa care."

"Wazzat?", asks the captain with a confused look on her face.

The hologram grabs the captain by the shoulders, gently tears the rubbers suit in half, revealing a cute pair of pink bras and panties and making the ship ghost screech as she attempts to cover herself while shouting "hey, what the hell are you doing? I WON!"

Julia smiles sweetly and says "yes, yes, I know. But I must teach you how to do it, or you'll never please my lady."

Murasa blushes deep red and doesn't even feel the shock when the woman in red starts touching her bare skin, and from the gate, robots and guests, male and female, watch with great interest while the captain starts moaning.

"First you do this," sweetly says the computer, making the ship ghost yelp and moan, then sweetly adds "then you pull here, and~"

Minamitsu screeches, then shouts "wait, WAIT! That's not supposed to ha-aahann~"

"And then you take this here and do this," sweetly says Julia while the recovered captain screams "n-no! Sto-hooooop! Oooooooohhh! Oh no, oh... noo**oooOOOOO**~"

The onlookers' noses quickly draw blood, and the robots' heads start shooting small sparks to the air.

Meanwhile, at the Myouren Temple, Nitori walks outside with the recovered Nue and Byakuren by her side and says "what a shame. I really wanted to see Miss Minamitsu."

Byakuren sighs and says "I'm so sorry. She's usually here all day, but lately she's been going off on her own."

Nue grins mischievously and sinisterly says "oh yeah. Keeps muttering about a swimsuit and stuff," then chuckle.

The kappa girl grins and says "then it must be important-" but before she finishes her sentence they all look toward the Youkai Forest when Murasa's voice echoes with an excited "**haaaaaaannnn~ Oh great barnacles of the deep, that was AMAZING!**"

On the roof, Kyouko happily shouts "**GREAT BARNACLES OF THE DEEP THAT'S AMAZING!**"

The magician monk's face turns red and stiff, the undefined one hits the ground and rolls while laughing like a maniac, and the kappa looks curiously around and asks "wasn't that Miss Minamitsu just now?"

Byakuren giggles nervously and says "erm, n-no, I think that was someone else."

Nue punches the ground, cackling like mad, and shouts "and Kyouko went and shouted it back!"

From the roof, the yamabiko blushes out of confusing embarrassment and asks "w-what? What does that mean? Nue, Byakuren, what's going on?"

Meanwhile, far behind the Hakurei Shrine, Drake Starstriker stands with the help of his sword, covered in burn marks and deep wounds, yet still dares glower at the gate to Makai.

He turns away from the gate and starts limping away while grunting between labored breaths "that damned. demon lord. was too strong. But I'm. supposed to be. stronger than this."

He starts to remember Remilia once more, roars softly, then grunts between breaths "that little. devil. did this to me! I have. to. to. kill her! Th-then. my powers. will return to me!"

With that, he limps his way away from the gate with the help of his sword to keep him up, grunting "need to rest first, then I'll. attack that place. Gensokyo, you will be. purged. of evil! I promise you that!"

* * *

At noon, over at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu sits on the veranda at the back of the shrine gazing at the sky above the trees, quietly reorganizing her memories and fighting with the pain in her heart.

Marisa and Rika watch her with worry from afar, wondering what could they do to cheer the maiden up, then the witch asks "and you say she's been like this since the morning?"

The maid nods and replies "it took some effort, but I managed to have her take a bath and get into clean clothes. She wa... she hasn't been herself since Mima said all that to her yesterday."

Tenshi walks out of the shrine, smiling at her friend in an attempt to get a smile back, but when she fails she frown and asks "do you want me to try and knock some sense into her? You know that might work."

The shrine maid shakes her head and says "no, let her be. For now, she needs this time alone."

From the tree to the left of the girls, Aya and Suika lie on separate branches with their backs against the trunk and drinking sake.

The tengu smiles weakly and says "last time she was like this was when Byakuren told her about this shrine's god being angry for the lack of faith. Seeing her like that always feels wrong."

The paparazzi takes her drink while the oni finishes her next gulp, then the optimistic orange-haired girl says "she's a tough girl. Just let her be and she'll be back on her feet before you know it."

The girls think they are out of Reimu's earshot, but the shrine maiden has a tendency of hearing things even she wishes she never heard.

Regardless, she ignores them all and continues to look inside her mind for any other whacked-out memories of her and Ail.

A tear starts to roll around her cheek when she finds another memory, though this one real, about her own shadow self apparently being an item with shadow Ail.

She takes the mug of cold tea and sips a bit to drown her feelings, but instead ends up scowling and shivering with fury when she thinks "_blasted shadows. It would have been better off if they had killed me. She had him, I am alone and will remain so. It's just not fair!_"

Her hand rises on its own and she throws it hard to the ground where the mug will smash into pieces, but an elderly hand suddenly appears underneath it, saving it from its ill fate, and when Reimu looks up with surprise she whispers "crazy old lady."

"Michiko, Miss Michiko, hell, I'll even take Michi-chan if you want," playfully says the old lady in the golden kimono as she puts the mug next to the maiden again, then says "but crazy old lady will make me sound like some crazy old lady."

This comment cracks a smile on the maiden's face, and the old woman arranges her oval glasses as she smile and softly says "there you go. Smile. It accents your natural beauty."

The Shrine Maiden of Paradise can't help but continue to smile, yet turns her face away to look at the golden sky again.

Michiko places her hand on the girl's black hair and softly says "too bad the heart is so stubborn. Even when I warned you and asked you to be patient, you still couldn't fight back that wonderful feeling."

Reimu turns a surprised face at the old woman, who smiles and says "others can't understand because they cannot feel it as strongly, but... I have this annoying ability that allows me to feel what others feel. And right now, you'd love nothing more than to rip that stubborn beating muscle out of your chest, I'm sure."

The shrine maiden smiles weakly as she says "empathy. What a nuisance."

The silvery-brown haired woman scoffs and replies "tell me about it."

There is a short moment of silence between them, then the red and white says "I understand that these memories of mine are mixing with other memories. Fake memories implanted when that *giggle* idiot went and messed with time."

Michiko sits beside the girl, stabs her crooked walking stick on the ground between her feet, then says "you are correct, but you are also wrong my dear."

After a short pause, the woman continues "understand these memories may seem fake, and they are to you, and to him, but because of his tampering with time these memories can become real, if either of you allows them to."

Reimu stares at the woman, who chuckles before saying "oh yes, it took him some time, but he's finally noticed these new memories, and as we speak, is looking for a way to destroy them and set things right. He understands it's not too late, as he thought at first, but time is still running out."

The old lady points her walking stick toward the storage house of the shrine and says "that woman in there can help."

"Mima?", asks the maiden, but the woman ignores her and continues "once he's figured that out, he'll come here, and I will beg of you, hide in your room. Do not let him see you, and do NOT look at him. It's a dangerous time now. You are both hurt, and your hearts will seek any pocket of comfort wherever they can find it."

She looks at the shrine maiden's confused stare, sighs, then says "this may sound cruel, but it's the truth, so keep this in mind. That boy loves Sanae, and even with history as it is, even if you two do get married, his heart will never belong to you, and your heart will never belong to him."

There is another long pause and the girl and old lady watch as the sky turns darker, then Michiko stands up and coldly says "oh dear. Someone's moving the chains of fate backward. He's aiming to upset the balance. Oh dear, it seems you have some work to do tomorrow."

"Drake," says Reimu in a cold and dark tone of voice, to which Michiko nods and says "he's hiding now, but tomorrow, when your maid disappears, head straight to the field of flowers and stop him there."

A question mark appears besides the maiden's face and she asks "wait, I thought he was going to attack the Scar-"

The old woman chuckles, then says "please trust me. Oh, and take your witch and maiden friend with you. He will need you three, and you will need their help as well."

The woman turns around to leave, but Reimu tugs her kimono and asks "wait, before, when you told me to be patient, you said there was someone for me. D-do you know who he is?"

The woman shakes her head, then the girl asks "then ca-can you tell me when he'll arrive?"

Michiko smiles, rolls her golden eyes, then says "when the time is right."

Reimu twitches when confusion hits her hard again, then she blinks twice, and the old woman has already disappeared.

Even though surprised, she can feel her heart is now a little more at ease, and the pain she felt when thinking of Ail has subsided.

At that moment, Rika and Marisa approach the maiden, who smiles at them and says "oh, you guys."

"**_Oh you guys?_** It that all you can say to us, ze?", asks the black and witch.

The maid chuckles nervously while pinching the blonde's lips shut and says "what she meant was that we are a little worried about you. My lady, how are you feeling?"

Reimu looks down to the ground and thinks, worrying her maid and friend, but then she quickly raise her head again to show her beautiful and natural smile and says "you know, I'm starting to feel a whole lot better now."

The maid and witch share a confused glance, then smile as they turn their heads back to the maiden, thus lifting a heavy sensation from their backs.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the underground room of the storage house, Mima, Ran, and the childlike Yukari sit on top of futons around a magical lamp.

The girls all share straight and stern faces, then the evil spirit asks "and you really believe it's going to be that simple? A border can fix it?"

The little blonde giggles and says "well of course. **It** was the main cause of it, and **it** can also be the solution. Though, I'm really questioning whether the boy can do it. After all, as you well said, he's not me."

The magical light suddenly dims down and the disembodied voice of Suwako Moriya echoes clearly as she says "it took some doing, but he finally got it. He'll be coming to see you tomorrow Yukari."

Right after Suwako's sentence ends, Michiko's disembodied voice echoes clearly as she says "she understand now and is willing to end it, but there's something else. Yukari, I think you should let that other idiot roam around a bit longer. He can prove most useful."

The magical light regains its original brightness, and the little girl opens her fan and waves it at her face while singing "u-hu-hu-hu~ I smell a juicy development~"

Ran leans closer to her master with a very confused look and asks "Lady Yukari, what's going on?"

"Change of plans dear," begins the little girl, then she looks at the evil spirit and says "girls, we stay here until AFTER Ail gets killed."

Mima opens her eyes wide and desperately says "WHOA! Hey, I'm angry at the boy, but I don't want him dead Yukari!"

"Oh, don't worry," begins the girl, "he'll just die once, and one really big problem will be taken care of FOR us."

The evil spirit raises an eyebrow and asks "so I won't have to blast him to a bloody and unrecognizable mass of bruises again?"

The little blonde girl happily nods, then the green-haired woman sighs and says "phew. Good. I mean, it did feel good that one time, but there was a reason for it. And... he kinda hates me now, so I don't... er, I mean."

Ran giggles, then playfully says "and here I thought you never wanted to know about that 'retarded bastard' ever again. Really, you should be truthful to your feelings and admit you still like him."

The nine-tailed fox is met with a blue-sleeved fist on the head while Mima angrily growls "okay, okay, I still do like him, but he messed up! I still want him to suffer a bit more!"

"Girls, girls," calls Yukari while gently splitting them apart, then says "let's not go at each others' necks now. Regardless of the change in plans, we may be needed still, so let's all be good sports and blaur aaaure~"

Before she can finish her sentence, the young-looking youkai sage is struck by dizziness and falls on her back.

Ran shrieks "ah, Lady Yukari! You pushed yourself too hard again!"

Mima chuckles, lifts a bottle of sake from her ghostly tail, then says "come on Ran-girl. Let's drink for her health while we change those bandages!"

The blonde fox raises an eyebrow and seems she's about to complain, but instead she smiles and exclaims "excellent! And I got some meat to accompany the drinks!"

"That's the spirit!", declares Mima as a grill inexplicably appears between them, and the evil spirit turns on the fire with a flick of her fingers.

Though seemingly unconscious, Yukari can hear and smell everything, yet is so dizzy she can't get up, and can only think "_heeeeey! That's not fair! I want some sake and meat too! Dammit, why am I the only one who gets dizzy! RAN, YOU LISTEN TO MY THOUGHTS THIS INSTANT! RAN! ...RAAAAAAAAN!_"

* * *

In Pandemonium at Makai, Shinki sits on an uncomfortable-looking wooden chair between the beds of Luize and Mai, and around them are Sara, Yuki and Yumeko, as well as some sprite maids, nurses, and a bluish-skinned butler on a suit with a pair of horns growing by the side of his head, and has a well combed and oiled greyish brown hair.

Though concerned, the servants continue their cleaning and aiding duties while the girls watch.

Luize is awake on the right bed, though is weak, and smiles as her mother gently combs the hair from her forehead with her fingers.

On the left-side bed, Mai sleeps on, seemingly unaware of what is surrounding her and not even noticing Yuki holding her hand, or Shinki poking her nose or scratching her head.

"She was already drained and still used a lot of power to fight that rotten boy," softly says the Makaian goddess with a light frown on her face.

The fire witch gasps and frightfully asks "bu-bu-but she's going to be ok, right? She's going to stay with us, right?"

The light-blue haired goddess smiles and sweetly says "oh yes. She's going to need to rest for some time, but she'll eventually wake up."

The blonde witch doesn't seem all too pleased with what she's been told and grumbles "dammit, if I could have gotten there sooner."

None of the girls want to say anything, so the butler decides to break the silence and says "well, I say your timing was perfect my sister. Word is you earned a lot of cheers today."

Shinki smiles and gleefully says "oh yes dear. You performed so admirably. He couldn't even touch you."

Yumeko chuckles, then says "oh, that's right. She's earned a whole week of special meals just for her for such a display!"

Sara punches the air as though shadow boxing while exclaiming "oh hell yeah. She gave him a left, a right, a spark, a kick," then stops and stares with wonderment at her sister and asks "but still that was just too awesome. Sis, how did you do it?"

Yuki blushes, bashfully looks away, then chuckles and says "actually, at first it was just one fluke after another. B-but..."

She looks at Mai, then rises her sight to her mother's and says "but after a while I just wanted to get revenge for Mai, let loose and taught him not to mess with my sisters."

Before the girl knows it, she's trapped in Shinki's motherly embrace while she says "my Yuki is such a strong girl! Uuu~ I'm so proud of you," then proceeds to repeatedly kiss her daughter's forehead non-stop.

In her despair to escape the embarrassing situation she's in, Yuki pulls herself out of her mother's embrace, but in doing so loses her shirt and exposes her new sexy pink bikini top with the white flower in the center.

The butler chuckles nervously while walking out of the room with a happy grin on his face and cleaning the blood from his nose, all the perverted maids and nurses bluntly stare, including Yumeko, whom also has a bit of blood trickling down her nostril, and Sara chuckles and says "wow, you look good!"

Shinki squeals with glee and says "sweetie, you're over the pink phobia!"

The blond maid records the moment with a camcorder while drooling and saying "oh, I'm watching this one with the other maids for weeks!"

Yuki hops away, waving her hands defensively, and loudly says "wait, i-it's not what you think! R-Rika made this for me! I-it makes me faster and stronger, and-and. S-stop staring at me!"

From the bed, Luize weakly says "tee-hee. You're gonna get yourself a boyfriend with that."

The fire witch groans while crossing her arms to try and cover herself, then Mai chuckles and whispers "showoff", with her eyes still closed, yet smiling on her bed.

The girls quit the giggles and chuckles, the fire witch forgets she's shirtless and goes to her sister's side, and Shinki smiles as she sighs with relief and says "yes, that's it my child. You rest and heal. You'll be out and about in no time."

Meanwhile, at Gensokyo, at the gates of the underground Kappa-Pa resort, Nitori stands in place with her right eyebrow raised, her mouth agape, her left eye narrowed, and one of the mechanical arms from her backpack keeps smacking her cheek lightly.

She gasps to inhale enough air and asks "Julia? Mini-chan? What's going on? I thought you hated each other!"

On the other side of the gates Julia stands in place, looking as proper as ever while Minamitsu keeps holding her holographic arm and rubs her pink cheek against it, sighing contently and smiling gleefully.

The hologram adjusts her glasses and sighs, then casually says "it seems my attempts to humiliate this ghost backfired. What an oversight from my part."

The kappa's mechanical arm rolls back into the backpack when the blue-haired girl gasps with excitement and excitedly exclaims "how WONDERFUL! I was so worried because you guys were fighting so much! Ah, but now you are both good friends! Come, we must celebrate! TO THE BEACH! We are having a party!"

As the girl runs toward the artificial beach, she shouts "don't worry Miss Mini-chan! I got a swimsuit for you too, so come on down!"

The captain starts to sweat, her face turns pale, she gasps as she stares at the running kappa, then darts right after her while shouting "**SWIMSUIIIIIIT! I WON THE SWIMSUIT!**"

"Hey wait!", shouts Julia after failing to reach Murasa in time, then pouts as she stares at her creator and the ship ghost as they run to the beach.

She covers her mouth and gasps with surprise upon the realization, then asks herself "oh my. Jealousy? I am... jealous of Lady Nitori? W-wait, how can this be?"

* * *

Midnight at Gensokyo, in the main hall of the Scarlet Devil mansion, Remilia laughs her lungs out after having heard the story about the three tailed cat chase for the tenth time.

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! A CAT! Of all things, a CAT totally owned you losers, and all it did was RUN! WAHAHAHAHAHA!", gleefully shouts the vampire while pointing at her servants.

Sakuya growls as she glares at her mistress, then angrily mutters "that's not the proper speech for a lady... my lady."

Patchouli sighs and holds her forehead while saying "jeez, this is getting more annoying by the minute."

Leon and Lina hold hands as they stare calmly at Remilia, then the ice boy says "wow, she's really enjoying this, isn't she," to which his sister whispers back "it's a lot better this way bro."

Koakuma holds the raging Flandre back, who shouts "onee-sama that's not funny! Stop laughing before I get mad, or I'm going to hit you!"

The little devil pulls her face as far away from the blonde vampire's flailing fists as she can while saying "no, don't start fighting! You'll kill us all!"

Meiling sighs and looks away from the rest while thinking "_so embarrassing. I soiled my name and that of the Scarlet Mansion with my behavior! What am I going to do about this?_"

Just as Flandre is about to grab her sister's shirt, Remilia stops laughing suddenly, and stares at her servants with a lost and frightened look.

In front of her eyes is her mansion, razed to the ground, all of her servants dead on top of the pools of their own blood, her beheaded sister turning to ashes before her very eyes, and the cause of this death and destruction is that boy she saw fighting Kimi only a few days before.

"My lady! ...MY LADY, snap out of it!", calls Sakuya, and now the vampire mistress finds herself back inside her mansion with her family looking back at her with concern.

"Onee-sama, what happened? You were laughing your ass off just a second ago and just stopped," comments Flandre while gently holding her sister's hand.

With a straight and monotone tone of voice the blue-haired vampire commands "Meiling, eat and rest well tonight. I want you at the gate at the crack of dawn. No excuses."

The gate guard bows and quickly exits the room, then the mistress continues with a more demanding tone "Sakuya, prepare the maids for battle, but do not, and I repeat for the last time, **DO NOT engage in direct combat!** That's a direct order, specifically for you Izayoi!"

The maid gasps and twitches, but quickly composes herself and bows while hesitantly saying "a-as you wish, my lady," then disappears in an instant.

Remilia stands up, grabs Flandre by the arm, and ignoring her complaints as she pulls on her she loudly says "Leon, Lina, you two will protect Koakuma! You two will make sure nobody other than friends get even five feet of her whole person, is that clear?"

The twins bow and immediately reply "**we will not fail you Lady Remilia,**" then both quickly take the little demon's sides and hold her hands tight.

Patchouli rushes after the mistress and asks "Remi, what did you see? What's going to happen?"

Without looking back as she drags her sister, the vampire mistress angrily says "a dangerous fool will come here and try to kill me, Flan, and Koakuma, and he has the means to do so without gimmicks or stakes! He kills all of us in my vision, so I'm changing our fates!"

Flandre gasps and shouts "WHAT? Wait, I'll just make him go kyuun and be done with it!"

Ignoring her sister Remilia commands "Patchy, we will all hide in the library, no questions asked. Raise a barrier if you must, but if that boy gets there I'm going to need your help, but whatever you do, **do not let him get near Koa!** It's imperative she stays away from harm's way until she can finish the summon!"

Patchouli, Flandre and Koakuma herself open their eyes wide and ask "**SUMMON"**

Meanwhile, in Ails room, the boy wakes up screaming when his bracelet suddenly activates, the symbols of Pandemonium, the snake, the frog, the tiger and the yin-yang orb in the crystal of said bracelet, begin to glow.

The boy stares at it, suppressing his screams from the burning sensation on his arm, and after everything stops he whispers "do-does this mean I'm doing it right for once?"

From the door Ayalina calls "Ail, sweetie, are you alright?"

The dense boy chuckles and whispers "Sanae, hold on. It appears we're getting some help," then looks to the door and says "so-sorry mom! Just had a-a bad dream!"

Meanwhile, inside Kyo's house, the boy, Luna and Medicine look up at the ceiling where an image of Shikieiki glows with a faint light.

She looks at all of them in the eyes and says "did I make myself clear? If he blows you away, if you fall, trip, slip, you STAY ON THE GROUND! You do not move! All that is needed of you three is to keep the dragons alive and stall for time."

The muscled boy nods, then asks "an Ail? What about him? Is he just the discarded meat puppet?"

The Yama sighs, then says "his sacrifice will not be in vain Kaizo! Trust me and stay away! It's my promise to you that things will be as they should be, even if they do seem bleak at first."

Kyo clenches his right fist and growls inward, looks away from the green-haired girl, then she sternly says "I will make this easier for you. If you even think of going there, I will personally take you down, and I don't do mercy in these cases."

The boy nods then covers his face with his hand, Luna immediately embraces him, and Medicine shoots a worried glance at Su-San.

Just before her image disappears, the Yama says "I swear to you, it will not be so bad. Set your hearts at ease. Trust me with this."

At the Hakurei Shrine, Rika smiles nervously as she says "my most sincerest of apologies. I promise to help you out tomorrow in your search for Kimi! It's just that my lady Reimu really needed me here. You understand, right?"

Kali lies on her side, reading a magazine, eating cakes and cookies while drinking some tea, and with a smile on her face she says "oh, don't 'cha worry about it missy. I understand. I'm not angry at all."

Tenshi kneels beside the freeloading shadow, leans closer to the shadow girl, then whispers "you damned freeloader."

The ghostly-tailed girl grins and says "at least I'm not a freeloading pervert," then unbuttons the top of Tenshi's shirt with a quick flick if her finger, and from within fall several photos, one of Rika taking a steamy-hot bath, where the steam is conveniently covering all her womanly extremities.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Luna, Ayalina, Kali, Kimi, Leon, Lina and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Ail's spell cards: "Mad Waves, Raging Waves", and "Blast Sign, Expansion that Soothes";

Yuki's spell cards: "Flaming Acceleration", and "Cooking Under the Moon";

Mai's spell card: "Songs of the Demonic Snowstorm";

Luize's spell card: "Traveling for the Sights!";

Sara's spell card: "Dance Sign, Ballroom Elegance"; and

Yumeko's spell card: "Dream Sign, And it Came From Nowhere"

Were all created by Willie G.R.

Shinki's spell card: "Great Magic, God's Recitation" was derived from Shinki's own spell from Mystic Square and Byakuren's "Great Magic, Devil's Recitation".

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

SEP 26 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Holy crap, I REALLY enjoyed writing this chapter. Seriously, it felt REAL good kicking Drake's ass all over Makai. And Yuki, did she surprise you? I seriously wasn't going to have her be so awesome, but if I didn't the chapter would have been far too boring and short. Still, I thought it was going to be longer than this. Good though. There has to be some limit, right? Anyway, next chapter is a big, action packed chapter (I hope), and it should set ONE story straight, and set the other story up for its resolution, but it's not over just yet. Oh, and a quick thanks to the guys of the "Let's Danmaku" forums (particularly you Doomknight Omega) for helping me in that spot I thought seemed confusing.**

**Oh well, with all that said, I hope you have enjoyed reading this chapter, and most of all, hope you enjoy the beating of a certain godling. *COUGH* Drake *COUGH*.**


	15. Overdue Punishment P1

**WARNING: The chapter contains some blood scenes, harsh language, and strongly emotional scenes. On a side-note, try not to crawl into your monitors to kill a certain godling yet. This chapter was split in two due to length issues.**

* * *

It is early morning, and the walls of the Scarlet Devil Mansion rumble with the roaring voice of a woman who desperately calls for Remilia, the mistress of the mansion.

Inside the mansion's dungeon, Kimi Hong's face expels strong energy as she screams "**REMILIA SCARLEEEET! He's coming! He's coming over! I must fight! I have to kill!**"

Her left eye swirls with white fire, her right eye glows red as the slit pupil expands and contracts, and her feral face is strained as she tries to pull herself free from her bindings.

The thick wooden doors seem to move the very second the torches in the room flicker, then the light-orange haired woman looks forward, her face still looking feral, her left eye ignited in a white flame as she breathes through her teeth.

Remilia stands before the dragon and looks down on her with her glowing scarlet eyes and a smug smile.

Kimi snarls softly, not wanting to cause offense to the vampire, and her body shivers as she says "he's coming! That boy is coming! Please release me, I have to kill him! He drives me NUTS! He has to DIE!"

The vampire raises her wings to look more intimidating as she grins, bearing those fangs for the dragon to see, and says "if you swear your loyalties to me, if you give up your fate to me, become my servant for the rest of your life, I'll release you."

"**NEVER!**", roars the woman, lowering her head and breathing through her mouth after the outburst, knowing she just sealed her own fate.

She gasps when the pair of small clawed hands caress her cheeks, then one of those hold her chin and lifts her head so that she may gaze upon the frightening grin of the vampire, who softly says "alright, for now, your fate will remain your own. I will release you, but there is one condition I wish for you to honor."

"NAME IT!", desperately barks the woman, to which Remilia widens her grin and says "you are to protect this mansion from that boy as best you can. You will attack him ONLY after he's gotten into the garden, and you will not stop attacking him until your consciousness has faded beyond your mental grasp, or his bleeding body lies on the ground, his blood sprayed on my garden as a testament to my mansion!"

The dragon girl nods and whispers "I accept," the vampire chuckles, then pulls a small vial with lilac liquid from her pocket and says "now drink this. It will calm your nerves and **keep** you calm while he is close, so that you may battle him at your best, and ONLY your best."

Kimi turns her head for a moment, but quickly turns it back forward and raises it, knowing she won't be free unless she complies, and promptly drinks the entire contents of the vial.

Her face becomes smooth and relaxed, her eyes regain complete focus, her breathing becomes more rhythmic and slowly normalizes, and her thoughts become organized once more.

Remilia smiles, uses her claws to pick on the shackles' and locks' keyholes, then the shadow dragon pounces on the little girl, snarling at her face while the mistress continues to grin while on the floor.

She gazes deep into the vampire's eyes, slowly backs away, then says "as soon as that boy is dead, I will no longer be bound to you, you insufferable brat. When that happens, I will come for your neck."

The Queen of the Night's smile stretches, her eyes become crazed, and in a ecstatic tone of voice she says "oh, I sure hope so!"

Meanwhile, at the mansion's gates, an army of fairy maids have taken the trees before the gate and the walls surrounding the mansion, and Meiling stands in full attention with a displeased look as she says "for the last time, get out of here! This does not concern you!"

To her right are Kyo, wearing a camouflage muscle shirt, Luna and Medicine, and all three remain in place while the boy argues "this DOES concern us! We were supposed to have taken care of that boy a while ago, but he's eluded us so far!"

The gate guard groans, but before she can argue the muscled boy continues "groan and growl all you want, we're not leaving you guys on your own! This guy is dangerous and you're going to need all the help you can get!"

Medicine chuckles mischievously and says "besides, my poison can give us a bit of an edge against him."

Meiling sighs in defeat, turns her attention forward, then angrily says "fine, do whatever you want, but don't expect backup from-"

Her face turns pale, goose bumps cover her whole skin as an odd ticklish sensation takes over her skin, then she gulps and whispers "what the hell is this? Is this for real?", all because the god-in-training's energy reaches her.

Luna glances at the gate guard and asks "so do you believe us now?"

The scarlet-haired beauty nods, unable to form words for a proper reply, and as she looks toward the lake she manages to whisper "what kind of monster is he?"

"The murderous kind," begins Kyo, summoning his fire blade and wind shield before taking his stance, then loudly adds "he can absorb magic! That's how he kills youkai! If he tries to reach for you, do whatever you have to do to get away!"

From the lake's shore Drake Starstriker, whom has changed his destroyed shirt for a white one, stands brazenly in plain view as he lifts his sword and says "you over there. The dragon, the youkai, the humans, and you fairies. Allow me to pass so that I may purify these lands from the devil that lives here. Stand in my way and I will not hesitate to kill you."

"He can see us from over there?", asks the confused Medicine.

Meiling raises a speared hand and shouts back "you are trespassing in Lady Remilia's territory. Leave now or we will be forced to attack!"

"Yeah! So why don't you go pick lilies or something while you wait until you can get the hell out of our lives," adds Kyo to the threat.

The godling sighs, shakes his head, summons a golden flame to his left hand, then says "so be it. It is clear you have all been tainted by the devil, and it is my duty to purify you all through death!"

He begins his walk forward, Meiling balls her hand into a fist and swings it down as she commands "we have been challenged," and as the fairies begin their bullet assault the dragon youkai continues "attack the intruder, but don't get close! Use your danmaku ladies!"

Luna unsheathes her gun blades, Medicine summons Su-San and a ball of poison on her hand, then Kyo sighs and says "here we go guys. Remember what the Yama said."

The blonde and silver-haired girls nod, and now stand beside Meiling in wait for their moment to attack.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Forest of Magic, Ail walks out of his house early in the morning and takes off to the sky, flying slowly toward the Hakurei Shrine.

As he makes his way he notices his sluggish speed and thinks "_this sucks. It's like I'm no longer me at all. Ahh, if it were like before, I'd be flying so fast, getting close to the trees and goofing around, twirling and stuff. But if I did something like that right now, I'd probably just fall._"

He thinks for a bit, extends his arms beside himself, then rolls in mid-air, immediately plunging straight to the ground.

He manages to stay airborne with great effort, going as far as flapping his arms and kicking his legs.

"Phew. That would have been bad," comments the dense one while he wipes the cold sweat off his forehead.

"Wow, that was almost pathetic," casually says Marisa from behind, making Ail choke and fall again from the surprise.

The witch stares casually at the boy as he flaps his arms and struggles to level himself once more, then smiles when he finally reaches her altitude and says "Mystia would be so proud of you, ze."

With a pulsating red vein on his forehead and a strained grin, Ail looks at Marisa and says through his teeth "good morning Kirisame. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The witch chuckles and says "sup? Just wondering what were you doing **sorta**-flying out here so early in the morning. It is mighty suspicious."

The dense one raises an eyebrow and says "not as suspicious as seeing you actually AWAKE at this hour. Don't you normally wake up after lunch or something?"

The witch does a cute upward glance with a small smile and asks "doesn't that make me more beautiful?"

Ail holds his sides as he laughs uncontrollably and is unable to remain airborne, groans out loud after crashing against a tree, and moments later he flies back up where the black and white is waiting for him with a dark smile.

She takes her Hakkero from her pocket and sweetly says "well, it looks like somebody is looking to be sparked very early in the morning."

The boy raises his hand defensively while shaking his nervously smiling face and says "no please, I need to stay conscious if I am to speak with Yukari."

"Sukima?", asks Marisa, raising an eyebrow and pocketing her miniature reactor, then points at the brown-haired boy and asks "don't you mean go and stalk Reimu?"

The mentioning of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden's name pains the boy's heart, remembering all the damage he has caused to her, to himself, and especially to Sanae, all because of his incredibly foolish decision.

Though he lifts his pale face to the witch, his eyes hide under a dark depressing shadow as he softly says "that was... I mean, I have to fix this mess between us, and Yukari might know how."

There is a short pause, then he continues "I am sure you must hate me for what I did to your best friend, but I swear, I didn't do it on purpose. I truly never meant to do Reimu harm... or to Sanae."

Marisa stares at the boy, carefully considers what to say next, then smile and says "I don't hate you, you know. Sure I would have loved to blast you when she was crying like a baby yesterday, but all things considered, I think I would have made the same mistake as you."

Ail's eyes reveal themselves from underneath the shadow, showing great surprise, then the witch smiles and continues "if I had seen something like that, that shrine maiden in danger like that, I would have also attacked that Sariel bitch. I mean, come on, Reimu is my friend! I'm sure that's what you thought when you did that stupid move."

The boy nods, smiles, and whispers "thanks Marisa," making the ordinary witch blush and look away while saying "aw, don't go getting sappy on me!"

She suddenly gasps when she remembers what the maiden had told her about not being supposed to see Ail, then stammers for a bit before finally saying "ahh, tell you what! Since I am still a bit miffed, I'll take it out by abusing you and your pathetic speed."

The dense one watches with curiosity as the blonde girl leans forward on her broom and holds her hat, then asks "um, Marisa, what are you-?"

But before he can finish the question, the witch shouts "last one to the shrine pays for lunch! Ready set GO!", then takes off at full speed, thinking "_oh shit that was close. I almost offered him a ride! Better warn Reimu and Rika before he gets there!_"

Ail coughs the magical dust left behind by the girl from his lungs, looks at the trail of that same dust leading to the Hakurei Shrine, then he slumps and sobs as he slowly chases after her and criess "big black meanie! Will probably want a restaurant meal... pick the most expensive... make me mad!"

And so, the already defeated boy continues onward to his destined path, hoping this new punishment is worth getting up so early to meet with Yukari, crying "and she didn't even offer me a ride."

* * *

At the island on the lake, halfway through the gate's path, Drake swings his sword left and right, blocking and cutting bullets everywhere, shoots holy beams that spread around like wild snakes hunting for prey, and explosions and high-pitched screams surround him.

Everything becomes silent afterward, and even the unsettled lake waters appear to mute after countless fairies' bodies fall around the godling, whose only damage is a burn mark on the right hand.

As he continues his walk toward the mansion's gates, the remaining fairies behind the walls bravely ask "Miss Meiling, should we buy you more time?"

The gate guard looks behind at the twenty fairies, shakes her head with a smile, and says "I'll need you here as backups for me and our friends here. Shoot whenever he tries to run past us, but don't engage him directly."

Kyo rests the blunt side of his blade on his shoulder while looking at Drake's frame, then says "we hit him hard, move aside so that Medi and Luna can do their thing, then we move in again."

Hong nods, takes a fighting stance, then admits "you know, I'm glad you guys came. I feel that with you here, we can actually beat this monster."

The boy smiles, looks back at his girl and the little blonde youkai whom look ready and willing, then turns around again and says "don't celebrate just yet. We have to beat him first."

Meiling and Kyo slowly walk toward Drake, meet him a fourth of a distance away from the gates, then the dragon youkai exclaims "why are you attacking us? We have done no wrong to you!"

"No," bluntly replies the god in training, extending his left hand at the girl, then says "I plan on bringing the light to Gensokyo by purging all the pockets of darkness, starting with this nest of evil you call a home. But you... you are a noble dragon, I can see that. Join me and prove to me you are not tainted by the darkness. Help me clean this land so that the gods may smile upon it once more."

The dragon youkai frowns, her eyes glow aquamarine with ferocity, and she snarls like a mad beast at the boy before saying "what manner of crap is spewing out of that **MOUTH OF YOURS?** Nest of evil? My Lady is one of the kindest vampires you will ever meet! She even protects these lands along the Hakurei Maiden!"

"What manner of moron are you? You're supposed to be a **god!** I thought you guys were supposed to be all wise and stuff, not just another brainless bunch of idiots," adds the muscled boy, feeling just about ready to smash that godling's head with his bare fists.

A dark shadow casts itself under the god-in-training's eyes as he asks "so that's your answer then?"

He moves toward Meiling with his sword aimed at her heart, leaving two after-images of himself standing in place, but the human isn't fooled and moves in front of the girl, parries the diamond sword with his shield and swings his blade at the godling's stomach.

Starstriker tucks his abdomen and bends to avoid the fiery blade, then is met with a rainbow fist on the face that pushes him back three feet.

While the god recovers, Kyo and Meiling jump away just as Medicine's poison cloud flies straight to the monster-god and paralyzes him as he stands, and while he is stuck with his left hand on his cheek, Luna moves in to attack, swinging her sword with speed and precision.

She cuts his forehead, his right cheek, his right shoulder, his chest, his abdomen, his left thigh and his right knee, then jumps away and shouts "he's all yours now!"

The muscle boy and the gate guard both have spell cards floating in front of their chest, then Kyo declares "FLAMES OF ELEGANCE!", as Meiling declares "Attack Sign, ROC FIST!"

The scarlet beauty moves in before the muscled boy and sends Drake flying up with a multi-colored blast from her fist, and as the godling falls the human boy jumps close to where the spinning god will fall and thrusts his sword just as the target is in range.

He thrusts it a total of thirty times each second for seven seconds with a blue flame on the tip of his blade that spreads around to form a danmaku curtain and fall on the defenseless god.

Kyo jumps out of the way and Meiling thrusts a solid hook on the still-spinning body of the god, and sends him crashing against a cluster of trees.

Luna and Medicine move in to attack again, then the youkai suddenly calls "LUNA!," and shoots poison clouds when they are met with the top half of a broken tree that crushes them both on the ground as it bounces away.

"**LUNAAAA! MEDIIII!**" screams the muscled boy at the top of his lungs before going after the golding in a blind rage.

He cuts the next flying tree's branch in half, slices the rest of the trunk into four pieces, and upon reaching the destroyed tree cluster he is met with Drake's clawed gauntlet around the neck, stopping his charge in an instant.

Meiling Jumps in, strikes the back of Starstriker's arm and forces him to release Kyo after a loud crack is heard, then she rapidly declares "Rainbow Sign, Intense Rainbow Fist!", and throws fast repeated punches that unleash colorful fans in a wide range.

The godling grunts when the dragon youkai's solid punches and her blade-like chi fans repeatedly punish his body, and just as the spell is about to end, he swings his sword and cuts the girl's stomach, leaving a straight bloody gash on her body.

From the walls the fairy maids calls "Miss Meiling!", then jumps out of hiding when a silver-haired fairy shouts "CHAAAAARGE!"

The gate guard holds her stomach when the burning pain throbs all over and the blood doesn't stop flowing, tries walking away from her attacker, but the boy is already behind her and grips her by the neck before she has the time to turn around and defend herself.

Colorful sparks start spreading around the point of contact with Drake's hand and Meiling's neck, and with a light smile on his face he says "ah, this is chi. Amazing level of mastery you posses."

The scarlet beauty screams as her life force is being drained, but to her luck, massive energy orbs and sharp energy kunai from the fairy platoon explode on the back of the godling's head, saving the dragon youkai from an ill fate, then Drake snarls at the fairies and shouts "to think such sweet creatures of the light could be tainted as well!"

He flies after them and furiously swings his sword, cutting their wings off then blasting them with holy orbs until all the little fairies are piles of just and bodies on the ground.

He lands softly after the road of bodies behind him, the Scarlet Mansion's gates just before him, and all he does is scoff and say "once the devil is gone, you will follow her, but do not fret, as your cleansed spirits won't have to suffer the same hell as his will."

And with that, he walks away, smiling as his sick sense of right and wrong keeps filling his ego with an undeserved sense of accomplishment.

On the ground near the cluster of destroyed trees, Kyo repeatedly curses over and over and whispers "why did I agree to stay put. Shit, of all the- Luna! Meiling! Medi! Are you guys alright?"

The gate guard groans before weakly saying "I ca-, I can't move," and the silver-haired woman cries "I can't get up, and Medicine isn't moving, and-and the bump on her head is getting purple. She took the blow for me Kyo."

The muscled boy clenches his teeth and thinks "_damn this all to hell! I'm the only one that's not seriously injured! What should I do! Should I stand? But Eiki said she'd spank my ass._"

Meanwhile, Drake stops underneath the gateway and stands in an offensive position, and as he glares forward he whispers "so we meet again, shadow."

* * *

At the Hakurei Shrine, Marisa has just told Reimu of Ail, and although the maiden was well-aware of his coming, she still panics and speedily walks up and down the shrine.

"...so maybe she was wrong. I could stay here. But WAIT! What if something bad happens to him if he sees me! But what is we get so into each other we do stuff we will NEVER be able to take back, and then..."

The shrine maiden continues elaborating on countless scenarios as she keeps walking all around, amusing Tenshi, Kali and Marisa whom keep passing the snack tray to each other, eating cookies while watching the scene go on and on.

Rika finally steps in front her the red and white and exclaims "Mistress Reimu, please stop this behavior immediately!"

The shrine maiden covers her ears and shrieks "AAARGH! I'm not old!"

The maid sighs and says "I'm sorry for calling you that my lady, but you were acting so erratic."

"_That's right mom,_" begins Suzaku, who flies to her master's shoulder and continues "_you must not allow temptation to win this battle. Please, follow the instructions given and lock yourself in your room while he is here._"

Rika sighs and adds "that's right my lady. So please, when he gets here you go to your room and we'll lead him to Miss Yukari, then you can punish me if you like for calling you Mistress Reimu."

She notices the shrine maiden looking around, as though searching for some excuse to stay outside, so the maid flaps her wings to get her attention and says "please remember what you said, about those memories being fakes, ...and if you don't comply to our demands and he makes you cry, I-I'll, um, fight him! I'll beat him up and kick him out of the shrine forever!"

Reimu twitches, looks at her maid, then remembers what Michiko had told her, what she herself noticed from the fake memories, and as though having lost a danmaku battle for her life, she slumps and depressively says "alright, you win. When he comes I'll hide in my room."

The angel-winged maid holds her mistress in a light embrace and whispers "my lady, I understand this must be so hard on you, but it's for your own good. Thank you."

The red and white maiden gasps, looks at those light-blue eyes, smiles wide, then says "that's it! Seeing as I could easily escape from the room, that is a great idea! Rika, I **order** you to keep me inside that room while Ail is here! No matter how much I kick and scream, you are not to allow me escape! Not even to the bathroom! Not even if I say there's an emergency! NOTHING! For no reason I am to leave that room while **he** is here!"

Even Tenshi frowns at the idea of that order, even if it is for a greater good, knowing how military-strict that sexy angel maid can be whenever she hears her mistress say 'I order you to', and shares a frightful glance with Kali, whom also seems a bit nervous about the whole thing, and she doesn't really know the maid that well yet.

At that very moment, Marisa points toward the shrine's gates with her thumb at a small dot in the distance and casually says "oh, great timing. Looks like Ail's almost here."

"TENSHI!" barks Rika, and the celestial casually chews on her next cookie while reaching forth and grabbing the red and white blur heading straight to the entrance.

The maid goes to her friend, bows politely, then says "please, stay with my lady in the room. I fear she might try breaking a hole through the wall if we leave her alone."

The cute blue-haired girl has the Hakurei Maiden in a powerful head-lock as she grins and says "I'll make sure she doesn't budge an inch. Now do what you have to do girlfriend."

Kali gulps and considers running, but after having had Rika's breakfast she considers helping the maid as proper payment, and hesitantly asks "um, and, er, sh-should I do something?"

The shrine maid smiles, coos while flapping her wings, then says "it's alright, you are my guest here. Just enjoy the comforts of our hospitality," while thinking "_oh yes, she's opening up to me! She can be so sweet! Oh, but don't push her yet. Not yet. Be patient._"

The witch stares at the maid, a bit of blood trickles down her nostril, then she just shrugs and says "I'll live this time."

Two minutes later, Ail crash-lands in front of the donation box, mutters curses under his breath as he struggles to get up, dusts his clothes of the dirt, then looks around the shrine as though seeing it for the first time and says to himself "I feel strange. Like I'm not welcome here today."

He shrugs and thinks "_well, I only need to speak with Yukari, then I'm off. Hmm. I wonder how's Reimu doing?_"

He walks around the building and finds Marisa sitting on the veranda, swinging her legs while whistling a tune to herself, and when she glances over to him she grins and says "you owe me lunch, ze."

The dense boy sighs and says "you cheated. You knew I was having trouble flying."

"You still owe me lunch," repeats the black and white with a much more annoying grin than before.

Ail approaches the girl while he raises his hands, strangling the air with his fingers, when he suddenly shrugs and says "whatever. I need to speak with Yukari, so if you don't mind-"

"She's not here," casually interrupts the witch.

The dense boy scratches the back of his head and asks "what do you mean?", then the doors to the shrine open and close in an instant, and now Rika stands behind Marisa, elegantly bows her head, then coldly says "Miss Marisa is right. Miss Yukari is not here. She's over at the storage house."

The boy can feel as though the shrine maid is deliberately pushing him away with that cold stare of hers and guilt starts creeping up his chest and he unconsciously says "I'm so sorry Rika. I know I did something terrible to Reimu, b-but I'm gonna fix this!"

"Then I hope you do so quickly," coldly says the maid, holding back her desire to sigh and tell this boy she's not really angry at him, that she wishes to help him even though she can, while she continues "because seeing my lady like this hurts my heart, and in turn makes me wish I could punish my big brother Ail for it."

Ail sighs, bows his head, then quietly heads toward the storage house at the back of the shrine.

Marisa turns her neck and leans back to look at Rika's face, and softly says "hey, that was a little too cold."

The angelic maid slumps, lowers her arms and wings while softly replying "I know. I wish I didn't have to do this, but behaving like this will motivate him to look for that solution faster."

The ordinary magician glances over to the boy, then says "hai. I believe I would want to solve a problem like that faster if those I care for started treating me like a sack of worthless crap."

Rika scrunches up into a ball and hugs her knees while whining "you didn't have to say it like that! Poor big brother is hurt and I can't do anything to help him, other than treating him like **that**."

Marisa chuckles, resumes swinging her legs around while looking up at the sky, then says "well just look on the bright side. You're not the only one, da-ze."

This comment causes the soft-hearted maid to pout, her lips to wriggle and tears to form under her eyes as she stares at the evil black and white.

A silver washtub drops on top of the witch's head, scrunching up her hat before falling off and rolling away, then the black and white drops on her back, glances over to the maid, then stiffly groans "that didn't hurt."

* * *

Back at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, above the gate, Drake's blood spills from the many wounds on his face, arms and chest, yet remains focused on the target in front.

Kimi's hands are engulfed in blue fire, and she smiles at the bleeding godling as she says "what's the matter? Is the Blue Dragon Claw too much for ya?"

The boy snorts, stretches out as though having woken up from a relaxing sleep, and before the shadow dragon's eyes those terrible wounds begin to heal at a rapid pace.

Drake notices the shadow's surprise and smiles, then asks "you think you can kill a god? More importantly, I'd like to know how in **blazes** a shadow like you can use dragon magic? **How** can a **TAINTED** being use spells from such benign creatures?"

The girl snorts, cracks her knuckles, then flies toward the boy, dives under him to avoid his sword swing, but gets a dive-kick on the back instead.

She turns around in mid-air and grabs the boy's leg, spins him around and smashes his back against the ground at the last second, softening her own fall, then thrusts her knees on his stomach and punches him ridiculously fast on the face with those blue-flamed fists.

The god in training manages to count three hundred punches in three seconds before being lifted by the shirt and sent hurling toward the solid scarlet walls, where his back cracks on impact and blood is spat right out of his mouth.

Her spell times out and she immediately declares "Wings of the Red Dragon," the moment a spell card hovers out of her pocket, then a pair of fiery red wings grow from her back and she dashes straight at the foolish god.

She punches and kicks at blindingly fasts speeds, and with every strike she pushes the boy's body further through the wall and smiles as she says "you know, fighting with a human body is better for little shits like you. Much. more. **ACCURATE!**"

One last punch sends Drake right through the wall and onto one of the beautiful flowerbeds of the garden, his blood staining the beautiful yellow petals of the few remaining flowers there.

The shadow dragon pants as her spell cancels and her wings vanish, then drops on her knees as her body slowly relaxes and asks herself "dammit, I only used two spell cards at once, so why am I so exhausted?"

"Because," coldly says the boy as he stands up from the ground, "while you were beating me up," picking up his feet and pushing himself upright "I drained the magic from within your body."

He stands in a defensive position, his wounds healing fast as he raises his left hand to show the dragon girl how her own red-colored energy sparks on the palm of his hand, and smiles.

He shoots her with the excess power and she soon discovers he has mixed her life force with holy energy, and though she struggles with herself to hold back, she ends up screaming to the sky as the unbearable pain courses through her muscles.

Drake lifts his right arm and twirls his sword around his hand with expertise, walks over to her, and coldly says "you really believed a shadow like you could triumph over the light that I am? You demons of the dark are all the same, never accepting your place in the world!"

The godling gets in range of the screaming dragon and immediately cuts her waist with his sword, and even though she's flat on the ground, screaming louder as the pain becomes more agonizing, he raises the diamond blade, aims it at her chest, then says "you all belong under the soil, below the insects you dare step on. Goodbye, shadow girl."

Kyo roars as he swings his sword against Drakes, and the moment the blades are pushing against each other he smashes his wind shield on the godling's temple, cutting him with the wind blades surrounding it.

The bandana boy yelps from the pain, glares at his attacker, then roars as he rushes toward him and attempts a downward swing that is easily intercepted.

They boys look at each other as they push their weapons against one another, then the boy in brown shouts "you stupid human, don't you understand? I am doing this **FOR YOU!** For your own people!"

The boy in camouflage grunts as he pushes back with all his might, then says "you're the stupid one around here! Just look around you! Do you see anyone cheering for you? Has anyone even once said you had to cleanse these lands? No you stupid god! It's not **you** who has to cleanse anything. It is us who wave to cleanse Gensokyo of **you!**"

They push each other back, immediately swing sideways and clash their weapons, then the godling directs his blade at the muscled human's feet, who jumps away in time and swings his shield at his opponent's face, but he is blocked by the accursed gauntlet of light, then the god throws a straight kick to the human boy's gut that sends him flying backward.

Kyo flips in mid-air and bends his knees when his feet make contact with a tree behind him, then jumps toward the boy while winding his right arm as far back as he possibly can.

Drake raises his sword above his head and aims to cut the human's neck, but Kyo cancels his own attack to block the godlin's sword, and is now pinned to the ground with a diamond-colored blade getting closer to splitting his face in half.

He lifts his legs and kicks the god's face, earning his safety, and quickly kick-flips on to his feet, then raises a spell card and shouts "Fire and Wind Sign, Desert Gales!"

Kyo's sword and shield lose their elemental properties, which start swirling around the boy on the ground, gaining more and more momentum, then he swings his sword and shield, and sends red hot wind blades at the godling.

Starstriker roars when those blades burn through his skin and bones and covers his face with his arms while shouting "how dare you strike a god!"

The foolish god suddenly spreads his arms, sending a strong wave of energy that cancels the muscled boy's spell, then shouts "that is EEEENOUGH!", and moves so fast toward his opponent that before the muscled boy can blink, he's already being punched across the face.

Kyo can feel as the strength from his body leaves from that one punch, but quickly learns is not over when he feels a solid knee to the back.

Drake grabs his opponent by the neck before he drops back to the ground, looks into his eyes, then asks "you thought you could defeat me when the dragons could not?"

He tosses Kyo's limp-but-conscious body to the ground and says "now stay down. I'm only here to kill demons, not humans. Don't worry though, when I am done here, you will hear the cheers of the thankful villagers."

And so, Drake Starstriker makes his way into the mansion's foyer, walking through without any more resistance to slow him down, all while his wounds fully heal, readying him from what will be waiting for him inside.

Meanwhile Kimi struggles with her own heavy body, trying to get back up even though she's seeing blurry.

"The deal. Must. honor. the-"

She tries cheering herself on, but her exhaustion takes the best of her and she falls out of consciousness, the world now a dark and lonely place for her.

* * *

At the Hakurei Shrine, Ail has just opened the hidden compartment leading to Mima's room, and as he goes inside he glances around with a hopeful face, then frown, sighs sadly, and goes down the stairs.

He walks down he small corridor, ignoring the doors to the left and right and going straight to that familiar door where Mima was once sealed within.

"_Funny she uses is as a bedroom now,_" he thinks with a smile.

He grabs the knob, turns it, and from within, the childlike Yukari says "ah, Ail, so early. What a good boy you are. Though you should remember I prefer nighttime."

And there she is, in the center of the room with Ran and Chen standing by her sides as though waiting for her command, and as expected, the young-looking blonde says "Ran, Chen, I'd like to have a private conversation with this young man."

"At once Yukari-sama," says the nine-tailed fox.

"Right away Yukari-sama," says the cute nekomata, who looks at Ail, waves, and says "nice to see you again. Be good to Yukari."

The two beast youkai spin backward into a pair of dark gaps, and disappear from sight in an instant.

The dense boy remains standing under the doorway and holding the door while staring pathetically at the little blonde, then asks "so, are there really two of me?"

The blonde nods once, then stares at her guest with those purple eyes and smiles.

Ail waits to see if she has something to say, but then he remembers that he is the one who needs to ask question, and so he begins "so does that mean that these memories are real, and that me and Reimu are two people in one same body?"

Yukari giggles and nods while happily saying "oh I'm so glad I'm speaking to the **real **you, and not the slow and stupid you. He's so stupid I just want to kill him."

"Please, Yukari," begs the boy as though trying, but failing to sound casual, drops on his knees and crawls close to her, and ignoring the fact that he sounds pathetic when he begs so desperately, he continues "I need to know if there is a way to undo this! M-maybe a border, a blast on the head, a sacrifice! Yukari, I'll do whatever-"

The little youkai sage places her gloved finger on the boy's lips to shut him up, then giggles and nods before saying "there is a solution to all of this, but no sacrifice will be needed. Instead, you'll need to learn to manipulate a particular border, but also, you will need **her**."

Ail waits for the girl to continue, but he soon finds himself too anxious to wait another second and shouts "**WHO!** Yukari, please, no more games! Whom do I need? Reimu? Marisa? Sanae? Maybe a Lunarian?"

The border youkai giggles again, opens her fan, then says "here's a hint so strong, even the stupid Ail will get it. You need the Icicle Sukima."

The dense one opens his eyes wide and whispers "Cirno!", then Yukari taps him on the forehead with her fan and makes him bend to look him in the eyes.

She covers her mouth with her fan and says "I will teach you how to manipulate the memory borders. But Anilan, this is a very dangerous skill, so if you abuse this knowledge, I will have to kill you, no questions asked. Do you understand what I have just told you?"

The boy shows great fear in his eyes after what has just been said, but at the same time there is steeled resolve, and after a quick thought of the situation he nods and respectfully says "I agree to your terms, Yukari Yakumo."

The blonde giggles again, raises her left arm, pokes the boy on the forehead, and at that very moment the bracelet on his right arm begins to screech so loud, the sound reaches outside the storage house, making both Mima and Suika on the shrine's roof turn their drunken heads to the back in surprise.

In the room, Ail looks at the translucent blue image from the bracelet take the shape of the SDM, then watches as the image changes to each member of the mansion, all lying motionless on the ground, then Leon, then Lina, and finally Rika.

The boy gasps "wait. But Rika's here, in the shrine! This doesn't make any sense!"

Yukari's eyes become intense. She covers her mouth with her open fan and slowly backs away while saying "the gods are going to help you with this new request. Go there and help. We will deal with you and Reimu later."

"But what does this mean?", exclaims the boy while looking at the image of the shrine's maid lying on her back next to Koakuma. "Yukari!"

The youkai sage opens a gap behind herself and says "better get a move on boy. You don't want to be too late."

He watches as the little blonde disappears into her gap and tries to reach for her, but it's too late.

He looks back and forth between the door and where the gap sage was last, then takes off as fast as he can, muttering under his breath "you could at least have sent me there with a gap, dummy."

Before long he is already exiting the storage house, Rika watches as he scatters away, but before she can ask, he kicks off the ground and flies as fast as he can, which is not really that fast anymore, toward the SDM, a cold chill coursing all through his body after the images seen.

* * *

The Scarlet Mansion's foyer is now a derelict battlefield with blood staining the adornments and furniture, broken fairy wings lying on the ground, and the only window is now broken into bits.

Pieces of wood lie scattered all over the torn carpets, half of the stairs leading to the first floor have been destroyed by a powerful energy blast, and other than the many bodies of the killed fairies, the large greeting room is currently abandoned.

From the basement come sounds of a hard battle and the cries of the fairy maids as they call for the chief maid.

Sakuya stands in front of Drake and continues to step back as the boy progresses toward the library.

She keeps throwing knives at the attacker and has him looking like a pin-cushion with the many knives already stuck all over his body, yet the godling's resistance shows as he continues shooting down fairies with powerful holy blasts and marching forward as though unscathed.

The silver-haired maid grunts with frustration, lifts a spell card, then declares "you'll go no further than this! Silver Sign, Perfect Maid!"

Drake just watches her with disdain and prepares an orb of light above his hand, while Sakuya showers him with knifes from all directions possible.

As soon as she shoots one volley, she stops time for a brief moment and moves around to shoot another, then repeats once again.

The knives move fast, bouncing off the ceiling and walls, threatening even the fairies, whom now have to watch out for the godling's shots and the flying knives.

The boy takes the knives and the fairies' bullets on like he's not being attacked at all, but that's when Sakuya notices how he avoids knives in certain areas of his body, particularly the face, and smiles.

Before she can shoot the next volley, he clenches his hand around his own orb tight and several beams shoot out from between the small gap of his fingers, deflecting the countless knives, knocking out several more fairy maids, striking the chief maid on the forehead and knocking her to the ground after cancelling her spell.

He stops his attacks to look at the silver-haired girl and smile, then says "such an amazing human, able to manipulate time and space at will. To think you have been corrupted into servitude of this devil."

"I serve my Lady Remilia on my own free will," barks the maid from the floor as she begins to get up.

Ignoring her completely, the god in training continues "ah, but don't worry, for I will not kill you. No, I am here to free you. I will kill the powerful dark entities that have stolen this wondrous castle and you will no longer be a slave to their wicked will- **GAUGH!**"

A stray knife bounces off the wall and strikes him right on the center of his forehead, and by the looks of it, it has really hurt him, and while he grunts to resist the pain as he pulls it out, Sakuya stands up, stances ready and declares "my lady has no dark hold on me! I serve her because of my own free will! She saved me once, gave me a purpose in this life, and for that I will fight for her, even if it means my own death!"

The godling pulls the knife out, blood pours down his face before the wound heals, and the fairies all watch with interest as he smiles, sighs, and says "pity. Their hold on you is very strong. But no matter, for I have the power to save you, and I will."

"It's like speaking to a wall," snaps the maid through her teeth, then she takes her Luna Dial on hand and declares "Sakuya's World!"

Everything around the maid becomes black and white, including the accursed demon boy who plays a god.

She wants to beat him up bad enough to break his bones, but getting close to him would mean she's engaged in close combat, and thus she would have disobeyed her mistress's order, so she just places knives all around him, as per usual, makes sure there is little room for dodging, then places more knives facing away from him, then stands back where she was, clicks on the stopwatch and says "and time moves once again."

The colors return to the world, the knives immediately make their way to their target, and Sakuya commands "shoot to kill!"

The new set of knives mix with the fairies' bullets and the knives already stuck on the boy's body, then those other knives facing away bounce off the walls and ceiling, away from the fairies, and strike the bandana god on several defenseless spots, and he screams when the pain becomes unbearable enough to have knocked a human unconscious.

But Drake remains kneeling on the ground, grunting and yelping while taking on the barrage of bullets, then the chief maid's eyes glow red as she leers at the boy and says "you are just a mere devil wanting to play the role of a god, though I don't believe in gods anyway so you can just die."

The godling smiles, then starts screaming at the top of his lungs as he gets on his feet and raises his arms, stabs his sword on the floor, then closes his eyes to focus.

All the knives on his body take flight, his blood flows to the floor for a few moments while the wounds heal, then the silver blades turn around to face the maids and fly forward faster than even Sakuya can throw them, mixing their flight with his own magic.

In an instant, all the fairy maids scream at once, then fall dead on the ground with sharp knives stuck in their bodies, while the chief maid grunts thrice when her own knives stab her left shoulder, stomach and left leg, and she falls on her side and breathes through her mouth to assimilate with the pain.

Drake walks toward the library, ignoring the whimpers and sobs from the silver-haired girl, then stares at the dual doors leading to the library.

He rubs his chin in thought, looks around himself as though studying the architecture, then says "I see. These doors will lead me straight into a trap. But I won't fall for this."

From the ground, Sakuya grunts and manages to say "you fool, you are making a terrible mistake! Please, I am begging you to leave my mistress and our home in peace!"

The boy smiles, turns around to face the maid, and while walking to her he softly says "it is for peace that I do this, my elegant servant."

He kneels beside her, gently combs the side of her head, and continues "once this devil and her powerful guardian are dead, you will wake from this nightmare anew, and you will take you life back so you can begin anew."

Izayoi shouts when she plunges a knife on the godling's face, making him stumble away and scream as his blood spills from the hole under his left eye, but he still stands tall.

He walks over to her with a hateful stare, stomps her wrist so hard it cracks, forcing a loud scream from her at the same time she drops the knife, then kicks her on the side of her head, knocking her unconscious.

He growls and consider spitting on her, then calms down as he thinks "_no, you are above this. You are a god, not a whiny human, and you have a mission._"

With that he takes off running, back to the outside of the mansion, where he plans on fooling the library's defenses so that he may destroy the Scarlet Devil.

* * *

Inside the library, Koakuma and the Kori twins hide in a corner of the second floor balcony, inside a small space surrounded by small bookshelves, while Remilia and Flandre stand in the center of the room with Patchouli close behind them, muttering a protection spell on the room.

"But that is not fair! I won't let you have all the fun!", complains the blonde vampire as she stomps her feet in a childish tantrum.

The mistress remains calm, following Drake's energy as he goes around the house, then calmly says "you will follow orders. If something happens to me it will be on your shoulders to care for the mansion and all who live here. Now quit you whining and act like a lady. Our servants might depend on you from today on!"

A tear of anger rolls down Flandre's eye as she glares at her elder sister, who looks up at the twins and commands "and you two! Keep Koakuma away from harm, and Koa, when I give you the word you summon her here immediately; not a second sooner or there's going to be hell to pay!"

The shaking devil nods while Leon and Lina stand straight in attention, showing no excessive emotions as they nod at the mistress, then gently nudge the red-haired devil back into hiding.

The wall on the second floor facing outside trembles, and Remilia turns around to Patchouli and demands "quit that incantation and be ready! I will require enhancements to fight that stupid bastard!"

The magician stops chanting, looks coldly at her mistress, then nods and softly says "just don't let him get to me and you should be fine. Now stand still. These will take a little while to cast."

The wall trembles with a strong thud while the mistress smiles and speaks between her teeth "that Sakuya disobeyed me and got badly injured. After this is over I am going to have to punish her severely."

The wall cracks after another loud thud, then the next one comes sooner than the rest and the wall breaks, leaving a large hole next to one of the larger bookshelves, which keeps the sunlight from reaching within.

Drake Starstriker rushes inside and heads straight at Flandre, shouting "I found you, you accursed devil! Prepare to die!"

The younger sister instantly takes flight straight at the boy and shouts "you leave onee-chan alone you stupid bully!", completely ignoring her big sister when she screams "FLAN, NO! THE PLAN, DAMMIT!"

The little blonde girl shouts "Taboo, Lavatein!", then soon clashes her massive red sword against the godling's diamond sword as he asks "onee? Big sister? You, a devil, have a big sister?"

Flandre swings her sword as fast as she can while shouting "yes, I HAVE a big sister, and you will NOT hurt her! I will BREAK you before you get close!"

Drake blocks each attack without fail, though is easily pushed back, but even so he calmly says "and you're even using the weapon of a **god!** How sickening are you all, mocking us gods like we are nothing! I am going to kill you all and make sure Gensokyo is pure and full of light! Maybe then you'll all know respect!"

The blonde girl flies away from the fool and raises her right hand, then screams "you're not even listening to me! Now I'm mad!"

She clenches her hand into a fist and the boy's head explodes with amazing force, but as soon as the sparks from the explosion disappear, his face is revealed to be there still, intact and smiling.

Rage swells on the young vampire and she clenches her fist again, then again, then again, until all that remains of Starstriker is a cloud of dust, but that cloud dissipates immediately to reveal the unharmed boy still smiling at her.

Her rage is replaced by fear when the boy starts summoning his energy to himself and sinisterly says "you truly are the devil himself. So much power and using it for evil. I will cut your head and carve out your heart to make sure you are fully purified!"

His golden aura becomes visible after summoning enough energy and he screams "then I'll destroy your servants and purify this entire castle!"

Inside a magical circle on the ground Remilia desperately shouts "hurry up Patchy!"

Patchouli finishes muttering her spell, a blue aura surrounds the blue-haired vampire, then she shouts "it's done," and said vampire flies like a bluish-pink rocket straight at the godling.

Drake holds Flandre by the neck, but the little girl crushes his arm with her hand, forces him to let go, then throws him away just as Remilia flies trough, claws his back, and adds to the momentum, thus he smashes hard against a protected bookshelf.

The mistress glowers at her sister and fiercely commands "**GO DOWN NOW! Hide and DON'T come out unless I tell you to!**"

"But, onee-chan, he wants to hurt you," argues the little sister.

"**No buts! Just hide and WAIT!**" fiercely commands the blue-haired girl.

She clicks her tongue when her little sister starts to sob, gets closer and gives the blonde girl a hug and says "just listen to me Flan. I don't want that asshole hurting you, so please hide and wait. And like I said before, if something happens to me, you will be the new mistress."

"But I don't wanna. I want Remi!" cries the little vampire.

Remilia sighs, lightly pushes her young sister away, then sweetly says "acting like a spoiled child again I see. Then wait for me and we will kill this **thing** together. Just let me weaken him a little. I am the current mistress of this mansion after all, and it is my duty to take care of all who live here. Now be patient and wait for me."

Flandre turns around as she slowly descends, and cries "don't wait too long to call! You say my name and I come fast!"

She always feels bad whenever she sees her little sister cry like that, and that only adds fuel to the rage she already felt a second ago.

The Scarlet Devil turns around to face the boy, flicks the right side of her hair, then says "alright then, you wanted the devil, well here I am. And now that this wish has been granted, your wish for a quick death will be denied."

Drake points at her with a raised eyebrow and asks "wait, **YOU'RE** the devil I saw that day? But you're so weak compared to the blonde!"

Remilia growls, clenches her fists so tight she cuts her own hands with her claws, then she lunges straight at him and swings her claws while shouting "you are going to regret ever thinking like that you fool!"

The godling struggles to block the vampire's claws with his sword and can't even find an opening for attack, thus finding himself unable to smile and irritate his opponent, and now looks inside his mind for another tactic to win one more for the light, as he calls it.

* * *

Remilia flies away from him when a spell card appears floating before her and declares "Midnight Sign, Demon King Cradle!"

Her entire body is engulfed in a scarlet flame and she lunges straight at the boy, spinning as she smashes her head against his ribs and sending him spinning back against the wall.

Drake manages to land his feet against the wall and bounces back toward the Scarlet Devil, then both grapple their hands and push back against each other, grunting as they struggle for dominance.

The vampire wins the struggle, grips the boy's hands so tight she sinks her claws on the skin between his fingers, then throws the screaming godling to the ground and quickly gives chase.

She takes a spell card from her side pocket and declares "Destiny, Miserable Fate," and several scarlet chains fly directly at the boy faster than Remilia herself.

The first one strikes him on the back just as he gets up, then next two hit him on each side of the chest, the fourth strikes him across the abdomen, then the blue-haired vampire herself comes in and jumps left and right four times and claws his chest each time.

Drake finds himself lying on his back on the ground, his irritation rises, and so he flips on to his feet and swings his blade upward, striking the mistress in the center of the face when she attempts one more strike.

Remilia screams and flies away, then the godling prepares a large holy orb and shoots it straight at her and shouts "eat holy light you demonic bitch!"

Even with her sight blurred, she easily dodges the magic orb with a quick sway to the left, then lands on top of a bookshelf and pulls her right eyelid down, stick out her tongue, then says "papa Scarlet had a better aim than you, you fowl-mouthed demon god. Now clean that mouth and speak properly! You are in the presence of a lady!"

The god flips his left middle finger at her, summons the gantlet of light, this one having a massive blade on top of the forearm, then rushes straight at the girl and tries to score another hit before the wound on her face completely heals.

The eldest Scarlet proves to be too small, quick and nimble to easily score a hit on, and right after she recovers her sight she swings her claw at the boy's feet and leaves three gashes on the right thigh, then kicks him on the face off the shelf, turns around, smacks her own behind once, then taunts "and here I was worried that you were going to be a challenge. What a rip-off!"

She turns over to face the boy properly and suddenly finds him right in front of her, then ducks and rolls away to avoid the furious sword swings.

He chases after the Scarlet Devil with more rapid sword swings and the occasional swing from his new gauntlet, but the vampire proves to be too quick and nimble, and this infuriates the so-called godling.

He expels a burst of energy that pushes the little girl far, then chases after her, screaming "you can't win! The darkness can never defeat the light!"

Remilia gasps when she realizes the boy has increased his energy, so out of despair she raises a spell card and declares "Divine Spear, Spear of the Gungnir!"

"**ANOTHER GOD'S WEAPON?**" shouts the boy, unable to believe his eyes and ears, then he roars and shouts "INSOLENCE! I will make you all PAY for this! insult to the gods!"

Before the eldest Scarlet has the chance to throw her spear, she finds herself using the weapon for defense, blocking from Drake's relentless attacks which have become faster and fiercer.

She tries to hold herself back from whimpering when every single blow from the boy hurts her hands with the recoil damage, but after so many attacks in a row she can't help but let out a few yelps.

From down below, Patchouli adds another incantation to her chanting, then Remilia quickly finds an opening on the boys attack, kicks him on the chest, then chases after him with her spear raised to strike his chest.

The boy quickly flips in mid-air and intercepts her attack, shoots a white beam from his left hand, and strikes Remilia right on the chest.

She flinches when the beam hits, but quickly realizes she's not in pain, touches the light and exclaims "a flashlight beam? PATHETIC!"

Drake smiles, rushes toward his opponent, the vampire swings to intercept but her spear goes right through him, then she shouts "an after-image," and turns around and notices the white beam is going straight toward Patchouli.

The blue aura from the magician's buffs dissipates, and by the time Remilia Scarlet lays her eyes on her friend, said magician is grunting after the godling cuts a diagonal gash across her chest and abdomen with his diamond blade, then watches as he strikes her face with the hilt of his sword.

"**PATCHEEEEEEEE!**"

The young vampire roars her friend's name as she dashes toward her as fast as she can, throwing her spear at the vile god to keep him away from the purple-haired librarian, and just before the magician falls, she's held by the mistress and taken away.

From behind a bookshelf on the bottom floor, Flandre clenches her teeth and growls as she whispers "that stupid, stupid idiot! What did he do to Patchouli?"

She wants nothing more than to go and break that guy, but she doesn't want to disobey her sister, and backs away behind the shelf.

On the second floor, Leon looks toward the source of Remilia's voice with a very sad look on his face, so Lina shows her support and places her hand on his shoulder and whispers "it's alright brother. She's strong. She'll be alright."

Koakuma sighs and says "look, we're still safe here. Just go to her if you're this worried."

He looks at the little devil with teary eyes, shakes his head, and with his cracking voice he says "Lady Remilia ordered to care for you, and that is what I must do."

He turns away to look toward the source of the voices again, lowers his head, then whispers "my love."

Remilia takes Patchouli to the third floor, places her on the hidden passage-way's floor, then carefully inspects the wounds.

The gash on her body is deep, but nothing lethal, and the bruise on the face is nothing to worry about, though should keep the girl unconscious for a while, yet staring at that blackening bruise raises her hateful rage and the mistress whispers "this was just too much."

She takes flight to face the boy, summoning another Spear of the Gungnir after stopping above him, cracks her neck twice, and with a hateful glare she ominously says "you crossed the line you son! of! a! BITCH!"

Drake just raises an eyebrow as he smiles, raises his weapons, then says "cry me a river, if you can, you DEMON!"

* * *

Remilia rushes forth with her spear aimed at the boy's heart, but now Drake can see her every move with ease, side-steps left and stabs her stomach with his gauntlet while striking the back of her head with the hilt of his sword.

She screams when the holy light burns her body, but manages to break free after hitting him under the chin with the back of her head and making him flinch, and after she's taken enough distance she hisses as she raises her spear and aims it at his head.

"Go ahead. Throw it," challenges the godling with an irritating grin on his face, the elder sister finds herself unable to hold back, and with a primal scream she throws the spear straight at the taunting boy.

The tip of the Divine Spear is right on top of the boy's nose when he veers his head left and allows the weapon to go through, though winces when it burns the entire right side of his head.

The moment the scarlet spear explodes against a magically protected bookshelf, Drake dashes toward Remilia, punches her on the forehead and stabs her neck with the gauntlet, kicks her on the stomach and sends her flying several feet backward, then shoots a single holy beam that pierces her shoulder.

The girl screams and yelps from the repeating throbs before smashing against a bookshelf and getting buried under books, then the godling quickly runs after her, but is met with a knife on the right cheek.

He screams and writhes around before pulling the knife off, then throws it back at Sakuya, who stops time, picks the bloodied knife from mid-air, then runs to her mistress.

The moment time is released, the brown-haired boy turns his attention to the maid and angrily whispers "you goddamned fool! You have sealed your fate!"

He takes a step toward the maid and the vampire and is bombarded by an insane volley of multi-colored orbs from nowhere, and though he heals quickly, each orb pushes him back and does intense damage, enough to make him howl in pain.

From above the bookshelves, Flandre glares at the annoying bandana boy with her glowing red eyes, hatred plastered all over her feral glowering face as she ominously says to herself "I will not disobey Remi-onee-chan, so I'll just break you from far away! I'll make sure you don't touch her again!"

While the godling is distracted with Flandre's Starbow Break, Sakuya pulls Remilia out from under the pile of books, desperately asking "my lady, are you alright?", before pulling her free from the mess.

The mistress' wounds are still bleeding, she places her hand on the silver-haired maid's shoulder, stares at her with tired eyes, then says "you are disobeying me again Sa-Sakuya. I am going to have to punish you."

The elegant maid bows and says "that's alright my lady. I'll accept any punishment you may have for me, but your safety comes before my own!"

Remilia raises an eyebrow in disbelief, then turns her body around to face the second floor and shouts "Koakuma! Begin the summon when I give you the signal!"

The red-haired devil and the Kori twins walk out of hiding from behind the set of small bookshelves, look down at the wounded mistress, then the red-haired librarian shouts "alright! I'm ready!"

Even amongst the incessant explosions, Drake spots Koakuma and the twins and says "the devil and the abominations. They are here as well!"

Having spotted more targets to destroy, the foolish godling decides he needs a change of plans, so he raises his left hand while still covering his face with his right forearm, then sends a flash of pure light that blinds everyone in the room, save Remilia, who was spared thanks to Sakuya's quick thinking and had covered her mistress with her own body.

Flandre's spell stops as she cries "I CAN'T SEE DAMMIT!", Koakuma and the twins cover their eyes with their hands, and every time one of them tries opening m, they howl in pain, and Lina comments "this is making things harder than they are."

She holds the little devil by the skirt and says "Leon! Make sure my cute pet is safe, or we'll have disobeyed Miss Remilia and be punished for it!"

On the ground, Remilia sits her maid against the bookshelf and scouts around for the boy, and though weak, her pride prevents her from admitting she needs the break and brazenly goes in search of the hated opponent.

Her steps make no sound as she moves about the ground, however the library is far from quiet, with Flandre cursing while descending and trying to regain her sight, Sakuya repeatedly calling for her lady, and the twins constantly talking to each other to make sure they are with the little devil.

She peeks through the corner of the nearest bookshelf and rapidly turns her face up, jumps toward the second floor, then dive kicks straight onto the blinded devil and ice twins.

She strikes a squiggly white image and sends it flying backward, then cuts her own arm and throws three small scarlet spears made from her blood after this odd creature.

Drake reveals himself from within the light when the spears pierce through his forehead and chest, then snarls at the little vampire and says "you truly are the devil, there's no doubt about that! No choice but to purify you first if I want to make some progress."

Remilia removes her hat, raises her wings, makes a medium-sized spear with her blood, then aims it at the boys head before saying "you will try, but you won't get the chance."

The godling rushes to her with his sword raised, but the little vampire deflects his weapon with her spear, spins in place, then bats the boy on the side with her weapon, sending him to the ground floor once more.

Before chasing after the boy, she turns around and says "fifty seconds," then jumps off after the annoying god-in-training.

The little devil nods toward the wall, then whispers "I hope she can help."

The blinded maid walks around and desperately calls "my lady, where are you! Please answer me," while holding her eyes with her right hand and trying to feel around with her other hand.

The vampire mistress lands next to the fallen boy and stabs his shoulder with her spear and shouts "I'm right here Izayoi, now stop your whining!"

Drake takes the opportunity of the slight distraction, grabs the vampire by the face, sucks a bit of scarlet energy, then blasts her directly with a holy-scarlet orb, then laughs as her spear disappears and she falls on her back in front of him, and says "you are weak, you devil. One more blast should do you in."

He takes off and flies straight to the second floor, several feet away from Koakuma, Remilia immediately follows, ignoring the ache throbbing on her whole body, and stands right in front of the devil and the twins.

The godling lifts his sword and points it at the little devil behind the vampire, rushes toward them and prepares to thrust, and at the last moment several knives appear in front of the boy, Sakuya jumps in front of her mistress, and Flandre jumps behind the boy with her Lavatein ready.

Remilia grabs her chief maid by the waist, grunts "you humans are such a pain," tosses her to the side, and is completely defenseless when Drake rushes in and cuts her in half, smiling victoriously as he does.

Her body shatters into hundreds of little bats, the accursed god snarls and shouts "oh no you DON'T," and swings his sword several times in a second.

Sakuya gasps as she reaches for her mistress from the ground and screams "**My Lady, NO!"**, Flandre gasps and cries "onee-ONEE-CHAN?", and Koakuma freezes in place when she witnesses how all the little bats are split in two or three pieces.

The silver-haired maid screams as her rage escalates over her head, and flies back toward the godling, holding a single knife with two hands as she attempts the throttle the boy.

Drake scoffs while casually blocking the attacks and says "you'll be back to normal in a few minutes," then raises his left hand and strikes the maid on the neck as hard as he can, sending her falling back to the ground yet again.

Leon taps Koakuma on the cheek and says "DO IT!", helping the little devil to snap out of her confusion, grab her Necklace of Harmonia, and begin her summoning of Rika.

Before Starstriker has the chance to attack, Flandre screeches "**ONEE-CHAAAAAAN! You killed onee-chaaaaaan!**", and soon finds himself in the incredibly strong grip of an insane little blonde and crying vampire.

On the ground, Sakuya wobbles around as she tries to keep on her feet, but stumbles sideways and falls against a bookshelf.

She looks around the floor, hoping the doubled vision stops soon, then spots something black, round and furry on the ground right beside her.

She immediately wraps her arms around the tiny creature and softly sighs "my lady, you're alive," feeling a great deal of relief filling her entire body.

The maid grabs a knife, lightly stabs herself on her left forearm, then places the little bat near it and says "take my blood My Lady. You will feel better in no time."

The creature screeches softly, then starts licking the pouring blood from the maid's wound.

Meanwhile, Leon and Lina stand defensively in front of Koakuma, whom chants "Oh guardian of harmony, bringer of fortune and misfortune, guide thee barer to salvation, and call upon guardian of bonds," and as a purple swirling vortex appears above her she desperately whispers "please Rika-onee-chan, I need your help!"

* * *

A few minutes earlier, Sanae is at the Hakurei Shrine, pacing left and right in front of the donation box with an anxious look on her face.

As she walks she mutters to herself "she must hate me, but she attacked first, but I must apologize, but I don't want it to look like I was completely at fault, oh but I still want to make up, argh, but she still tried to steal Ail from me, but he's such an idiot."

"_Why don't you just walk in and start with a simple 'hello'? Any conversation should start with a greeting after all._"

The blue and white maiden stops pacing, slowly glances all around herself, thinking she's lost her mind, then smiles and snaps her fingers while saying "I got it. That's Suzaku."

The bird's voice echoes in the maiden's mind as she says "_that's right. Now why don't you come over here and speak to Miss Reimu? I'm sure she'll appreciate it._"

The well endowed shrine maiden gulps, nods at nobody in particular, then walks to the side of the shrine, where Marisa and Tenshi are playing cards on the veranda, said Celestial using an unwilling Kali as a cushion.

"Oi, Sanae, what's up, ze! Come for round two?", greets the cheerful witch.

Tenshi turns around, smiles, then says "sweet, the blue and white one. Now we get to see some action!"

Kali reaches for the green-haired girl and whimpers "help me please."

Sanae stares at the girls and says "I'm not here to fight you idiots," and that's when from inside the shrine, Reimu says "Sanae. Um, er, welcome."

The Moriya maiden looks inside and stares at the somewhat bashful face of the Hakurei maiden, a rare sight to see, then she herself starts feeling bashful and says "um, Re-Reimu. Er, hello."

The black and white witch chuckles and jokingly says "oh, an awkward moment. I like watching those."

At that same moment, two blurs zip by left and right, clicking sounds come from both, then Reimu sighs, throws two charms forward, and two girls scream out loud.

After Aya and Hatate crash at the front of the shrine, the Hakurei Maiden walks outside, stands in front of the guest and begins "I'm so glad you're here. I, um, I wanted to say that I am sorry for the trouble I caused you and Ail. I did some terrible things to you, and-"

Sanae raises her hand and anxiously says "I also wanted to apologize. I didn't know what was going on, and thought you were just toying around. Then I also did some pretty nasty things to you, all because I didn't understand what was going on with you and him."

Hakurei sighs, holds her forehead, then softly says "I know. I always felt there was something wrong with what I was doing, but I still forced myself and caused trouble. That's not me, so..."

She sighs, settles her anxious heart, then continues "late I've been calling you names and telling you how you got it easy, and frankly, I was just being a jealous bitch. That was uncalled for, and for that I want to apologize as well," and she bows right after her speech.

Kochiya smiles, bows back, then says "then it's all water under the bridge. Heh-heh, to think we almost killed each other over a boy."

The maidens look at each other for some time, smile, then the red and white comments "what a summer it's been, huh."

"I'll say," replies the blue and white with a chuckle.

Rika appears between the girls smiling very brightly, stretches her arms, pulls the two maidens together in a group hug and happily says "yay! This is a very happy occasion! My lady and Miss Sanae have made peace once again!"

She suddenly gasps in mid-hug, breaks through the maidens, then exclaims "TENSHI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO KALI?"

The poor shadow girl is so desperate, she reaches for the shrine maid and groans "please help. She's crushing my ribs."

The celestial sighs and sadly says "there goes my cushion," just a second before Rika pulls the tortured shadow girl from beneath the blue-haired girl's heavenly peach.

The maid holds the dazed Kali against her bosom while saying "there, there, breathe fresh air once more," then scowls at her friend and says "that was very irresponsible of you Momoko."

On the background, Momiji Inubashiri, the faithful white wolf watch-dog, whom has short white hair, wolf ears, a cute fluffy tail, and wears a white shirt with detached sleeves and a black skirt with red fire motif on the bottom, drags the two crow tengu by the legs and says "I'll make sure to send these two to Lord Tenma with a full report."

Reimu waves back and says "thank you very much. Say hi to him for me, and tell him the manju was delicious," then she notices the surprised look on Sanae, then shrugs and says "what? I can be sociable when I want to."

Rika suddenly yelps and anxiously says "my lady, seems little sister Koakuma needs me! I gotta go!"

The girls look to the maid and are amazed by the swirling purple vortex above her head, and just before the shrine maid gets sucked in with Kali, she manages to say "I'll try to be back soon, now please excuse me!"

She jumps into the vortex and it vanishes in an instant, then Marisa comments "whoa. That was something you don't see very day, da-ze. Even here in Gensokyo."

Tenshi jumps on her feet after throwing her cards in the air and furiously shouts "what the hell just happened! RIKA! Hakurei, do something!"

Suzaku flies out of the shrine, lands on Reimu's shoulder, then hurriedly says "mom, _remember what you have to do! I'll go to master and make sure she's alright!_"

The red bird takes flight while the celestial shouts "what? What's going on? What happened to Rika! **WHERE IS SHE?**"

Reimu grabs the celestial's lips to shut her up, then looks at Marisa and says "I need your help," then looks at Sanae and continues "we need to go to the Garden of the Sun, now!"

Tenshi slaps the red and white's hand off her lips and furiously says "this isn't time to go flower viewing, we have to save RIKA!", then quickly jumps off the ground and takes flight after Suzaku.

Marisa tightens her hat, summons her broom, and grins as she says "right with you reddie."

Sanae nods, smiles, then says "what better way to make up with someone than blasting an enemy together, right? Can't be held back by common sense in Gensokyo after all."

Reimu smiles, nods, and the three girls take flight simultaneously while the red and white shouts "Mima, Suika, take care of the shrine for me!"

On the roof, the drunk oni and spirit look up as the trio leaves, then the evil spirit yawns and says "I found a good bottle of wine on the storage house."

The little oni grins and says "I'll gather us some snacks."

The girls quickly split up to begin their little party gathering, unaware for the two brooms leaning ominously beside the open sliding doors.

* * *

At the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library, Flandre and Drake continue to clash swords with so much force the floors tremble violently and the books keep falling off their shelves because of the vibrations.

His clothes are full of burn marks and bloodstains, and although his skin is broken in many places, bleeding a lot before the wounds begin to heal, his clothes are still in one piece.

Flandre has a nasty burn mark on her right eye, and the front of her shirt is destroyed, exposing a horribly nasty cut just under her ribs she appears to be ignoring, but aside from that she seems unharmed.

On the second floor, Koakuma helps Leon and Lina avoid as many falling books as she cans while waiting for Rika, and looks at the vortex as it shines, and smiles while whispering "Rika-onee-chan!"

The maid pops right out of the swirling gap with Kali still on her hands, and gasps at the sight of the library, the blood on the floor, the scattered books, and the looks of terror on the only standing residents of the mansion.

"Koa, Mister Leon, Miss Lina! What's going on?", asks the maid with anxiety.

Kali begins to tremble violently, her body becomes translucent black, her eyes turn blood red, her hair becomes smooth, and as her shadow body creeps away, she says "it's the evil light! It's here! Rika, save me!"

Just as the shadow hides between the cracks of the bookshelves, Flandre Scarlet screams, getting the attention of the four standing on the second floor balcony.

Up on the third floor, Drake holds the middle finger of the vampire's right hand and says "the darkness has made you strong, but the light will always triumph!"

He pushes his arm forward and the little sister screams and cries after hearing that horrible cracking sound, but the boy is not done and pulls the crying girl closer, smashes his forehead against her face, then throws her straight down to the ground floor.

The angelic maid screams at the sight, then says "no! How could he do that to that child! That MONSTER!"

The little devil takes the chance and explains "he came here this morning and attacked the mansion. He has defeated everyone, beat Miss Sakuya up, and killed the mistress in front of the young mistress's eyes. He had won, but he cut all of Remilia's pieces without showing any mercy. He even struck Lady Patchouli!"

Leon sighs at the mentioning of his love, so his sister holds him in a light embrace to support him.

The shrine's maid growls, locks a hateful stare toward the boy, then says "what the hell is wrong with that fool. Miss Remilia, and poor Miss Flandre! She's already gone through so much!"

Drake finally notices Rika, who stares at him with undeniable fury, and casually says "oh, it's the goddess in human body! Great, you can start by purifying the maid. She's somewhere on the ground, still thinking she belongs to the devil."

"**What in the name of all that's good do you think you are doing?**", screams the shrine maid in a clearly annoyed disapproving tone of voice.

Though in shock, she activates her Soraogan blood limit and starts drawing runes on her hands with magic as she flies and shouts "what is the MATTER with you Drake Starstriker! I thought you were supposed to be a god! What are you doing bullying these people?"

The godling shoots a dirty dark glare at the girl, frowns, but remains silent, staring at her as one would a hated enemy.

Rika claps her hands and her fingerless gloves magically appear on her hands, then she unsheathes her family sword and shouts "and what have you done to little Miss Flandre? Don't you know that poor child has suffered so much already? Answer me! What do you think you are doing to these good here?"

Drake turns to face the angelic maid, an ominous shadow is cast over his eyes, and with a dark, cold and dangerous tone of voice, he asks "a bright goddess as yourself is siding with these devils? They actually manage to taint someone as pure and bright as yourself?"

"Taint?" questions the angel girl with a raised eyebrow. "You speak like one of those stupid humans of old who hunted innocent creatures just because they were different! This is the reason why you're still down here! Instead of becoming enlightened, you're becoming a grounded fanatic! Wake up while you can, or you will never be with Miss Mina!"

"Inconceivable," barks the boy as he slowly flies toward the maid, summons a gauntlet of light with undulated thorns all over it, then shouts "to THINK that someone like you could be so easily tainted by these dark demons! After I'm done purifying your soul I am going STRAIGHT to your mistress and informing her of this transgression!"

Rika grips her swords with both hands and says "so it is true what they have all said about you. You are just a murderer and a monster. Well I cannot allow you to hurt any of my friends anymore! You despicable murderer already killed Miss Remilia, so I'll have to apologize to Miss Flandre for being so late!"

Drake launches at her and attempts to strike her face with his gauntlet and cut her neck with his sword, but a quick move from her arms and wrists and she blocks both attacks at once.

She grunts as she pushed back, but the godling doesn't seem to be putting any effort in pushing he away, so he just glances around, making sure to let the maid know he's not impressed, and then he notices the little devil and ice twins.

"YOU!", he barks at the trio, pushing the angel maid aside like it was nothing at all, points at Koakuma, then says "you are manipulating her! You and those abominations are dead!"

He snarls as he flies toward the brave Kori twins and the shivering little devil, but is met with a light-blue blur that leaves a cut on his arm and turns him away from the innocent trio."

Rika reveals herself to the boy, now having six wings, four of them ethereal white, spread open wide as she floats in front of the evil god, shining a beautiful soothing light while elegantly brandishing her sword, then stops after it is positioned to the left side of her head.

Drake snarls at her, disgusted at the sight of such beautiful, but tainted goddess, and roars as he flies toward her and their swords clash once more.

The cute and sexy maid matches the godling's sword and gauntlet attacks with ease thanks to her Quicksliver spell, and even manages to counter him with a few sword strikes of her own.

Frustration rises inside the boy's heart and thinks of attacking Koakuma now, but every time he makes his move, Rika appears before him and gives him one hell of a painful uppercut, breaking his nose after the fifth time.

The next barrage of attacks go fully to the angel maid's favor, and when she notices she's managed to push him back, she raises a silver spell card and says "this is it you mean bully! I'm taking you down in the name of all those innocent you have struck! Quick Silver Kouryuu Metsugasou no Zanryu Roueijin!"

The girl starts moving so fast around the vile god that even **he** is having a lot of trouble keeping up with her, and as she moves she swings her family sword at random spots and shoots beams of pure light, saying "taste the power of the true light, you monster!"

After the first beam touches Drake, his body stiffens and he finds himself unable to move, and while those beams punish him, Rika stops in the very same spot where she had begun her spell, having only her two normal angel wings, and revealing the entire air around her and the boy is taken over by countless feathers, peacefully floating in mid-air.

The girl raises her sword again and the feathers become small bullets of light, an in a mere instant she is already behind the brown-haired boy and sheathing her sword as a bright blade of light punishes the godling's chest.

The hand guard clicks when the blade is set in its scabbard, then all the bullets begin to twirl around each other as they make their way to Rika's back, going through Drake's body, punishing him mercilessly, and even though the pain he feels is so great, he can't scream due to the paralysis.

He silently endures the punishing barrage of bullets, burned by the same light he worships, then repeatedly curses the angel maid's name in his mind, convincing himself that her light is tainted.

Finally, the four white ethereal wings form again, the beautiful maid turns a dangerous glare back to the god, and he falls straight to the ground, moaning from the painful burning cursing his body, but instead of crashing on the ground, he smashes his head on the top of a bookshelf, where he falls on his stomach to rest.

* * *

The shrine's maid looks down to the fallen godling on the top of the bookshelf, and in a demanding tone she asks "had enough? Are you going to leave these people alone and repent for all you have done?"

The boy's answer is as obvious as daylight when jumps from the bookshelf with a primal roar, then points at the angel and shouts "**if you refuse to be saved by me, then you will be killed instead!**"

Rika repeats her attack, moving too fast for Drake to keep up, or so she hopes.

He throws his sword to the right so fast it looks like a disk and uses magic to move it around, then moves around himself to avoid the light beams flying randomly out of nowhere.

The god in training gasps and exclaims "a-hah! Got you!", then swings his left arm like a blur and strikes the maid on the left cheek and neck and sends her backward against the bookshelves on the second floor, close to the Koris and Koakuma.

The maid screams when she hits the shelves; the impact is so strong, even with the protective magical barrier her body cracks the wood, and though having three holes on her cheek and two on her neck, instead of blood she gets a never-stopping burning punishment that's meant to weaken her without killing her.

Koakuma calls for the maid and watches with horror as the ethereal wings on the maid vanish into dust, and now the twins hold her back from running to the girl when Starstriker appears before his opponent in an instant, bloodlust evident in his eyes.

He raises his left arm, throws it speared at the maid's face, and the sound of metal cutting flesh greets his ears at the same time as the horrible stinging pain reaches his brain, and he backs away to hold his hand, calling off the thorny gauntlet.

The angel-winged girl grunts as she stands up, using her sword for support, but the enraged boy is already on her, holds her up by the collar of her shirt, then strikes her with a solid headbutt and throws her away, following with several orbs of light, these with dark bolts surrounding it.

Rika covers herself up with her wings and successfully blocks the three orbs before she hits the floor, then the vile god shoots a bolt at her, aiming under her skirt, the only other part she can't fully cover with those wings at the time.

She screams in agony and writhes around, but the god is obviously not done and raises his sword above his head as he gives chase, but he is stopped when struck on the head by a blue orb.

He flinches and turns around, glares at the little red-haired devil, but before he can speak, she screams "**you cheap-shot bastard, how dare you shoot her there! Even I find that distasteful and dishonorable!**"

He just growls, turns around and prepares a thin tangible beam of light with water within and electricity outside, but before he gets the chance to use it, he grunts and spits a bit of blood.

His eyes glow red for an instant as they fill with surprise, then he looks down at his abdomen to find a spear of pure darkness going right through from his back, then he turns around to look at Rika, whose face twists with the pain she's trying to fight off as she stands in place, and the ferocity of her rage.

The boy's face turns fierce as he glares at the angel girl, ignores the several blue kunai and orb bullets from the back as if they weren't even happening, then reaches for the spear on his back.

The very second his hand touches the back end of that dark spear, horrible images of torturous punishments, lonely confinements, and all manner of painful traumas caused by hateful people course through his mind as though they were memories of old.

He screams like a frightened child but continues removing the spear, though slowly, and Rika takes the chance to both shoot small yellow bolts of lightning from the palm of her hand and strike the boy with her sword as she flies by.

Drake finally pulls the spear out and throws it away, revealing it to be a smaller Japanese sword similar to Rika's Family sword, then he looks at her with surprise, his new wounds already closing up, and says "those... were your memories. How in the world are you still alive?"

The pained angelic maid glowers at the boy, raises her sword offensively, then spits "what do you care? You're just one more of those bullies and single-minded **fools!**"

The boy smiles in such a disgusting manner that even Rika finds that offensive, points his sword at the maid, then rushes to her and punches her in the chest, forcing her to crash back on the second-floor balcony, but this time he goes after her immediately.

He grabs her by the collar of her shirt, strikes her face with his sword's hand guard, giving the girl a new cut on the cheeks, and whispers "I'm not one of those, I want to SAVE you..." he points at Koakuma and the twins, "from these ABOMINATIONS!"

From behind the bookshelves Kali watches as the girl she once hated is being beaten by a brute, but her fear prevents her from going outside and helping, and merely whispers "someone save her. Please someone come and save her! I'm too weak without Kimi's help! I can't help her!"

Leon gasps and twitches, then says "attack! Lady Remilia says attack!"

"**WHAT?"** ask Lina and her cute pet simultaneously, both raising an eyebrow in confusion, then the little devil adds "wait, Miss Remilia is alive?"

The ice boy charges at Drake, shouting "hey you! Quite picking on Miss Rika!"

The ice girl chases after her brother and shouts "Miss Rika, we're coming to save you!"

Drake turns around and swings his sword, cutting both twins in half, and all Rika and Koakuma do is cry out their names before they both become an icy frame with icy dust within.

The godling stares curiously at his blade and casually says "odd. They are dead, but they aren't. What odd abominations."

Rika kicks the brown-haired demon god so hard he rolls on the ground twice before stopping, and she is so angry that she's forgotten all about her pain.

"You monster! You're going to pay for that," cries the girl, preparing another spell card, but the vile god in training stabs his sword on the ground, joins his wrists, and shoots a massive white spark twice the size of Rika herself from both hands, and before the girl can react he throws it at her and instantly strikes her.

As she flies backward, wincing from the burning sensation, the front of her clothe begin to tear as magical blades cut all over her stomach, arms and legs, and after she smashes on the solid wall she drops face-down on the top of a bookshelf, her right arm dangling from the edge.

* * *

Right after Rika is down, Drake turns to face the lonely Koakuma, smiles, then ominously whispers "and now I purify you and that sweet angel will be free. She will help me purify this entire castle, then all of Gensokyo. Now, be a good little demon and stay put while I finish you off."

The little red-haired devil panics, knowing well she's no match for the monster god, so she takes off toward the angelic maid, then quickly turns to the hole on the wall on the other side of the library, shouting "I'll get help! **Eek!**"

But her escape is cut short when the godling appears in front of her and swings his sword.

She ducks in time to save her neck, but cries out loud when her left head-wing is cut in half.

Rika's body twitches when the cries of her little sister reach her ears, but she's in so much pain that moving a finger is a strenuous chore, yet she still tries to push herself up, only to fall again and think "_Koa! I'm too weak! You need me but I'm too weak! Come on Onkamikami, get up! You have to **get up!**_"

Meanwhile the little devil runs on the ground floor between bookshelves, hoping to lose Drake long enough for the throbbing on her head-wing to stop, and for her to come up with a plan to escape.

To her dismay, she can hear the footsteps and quiet chuckles of the boy nearby, and whimpers when he loudly says "you can hide, but it won't change a thing. I am a GOD! I have all the time in the world, and you are just a weak little demon girl who doesn't know her place!"

Koakuma loses her temper and shouts "you stupid bastard! I'm not the one breaking into someone else's home and trying to kill the people living in there just because I don't like them, like **you!** That makes you the demon here!"

She yelps out loud when she feels something grip her neck, but before Drake has the chance to damage her she takes out her only spell card and desperately declares "Mind Sign Pleasurable Mind!"

A blinding flash fills the whole area around the godling and the little devil, and when he opens his eyes again, he sees himself gripping a blonde girl with blue eyes and wearing a red ribbon on her head, instead of the red-haired devil girl.

This woman wears a white robe, her hair is smooth and so long it reaches her waist, and even knowing it's an illusion, Drake can't help but loosen his grip and let the woman go.

He looks around himself and finds he is surrounded by white marble buildings under a bright blue sky, nature is bountiful all around, and the sunlight, though fake, feels soothing and calming.

By the time he realizes he's forgotten about the woman, he looks around the marble buildings, mutters "M-Mina. Where did she-" but he soon remembers he's inside a dream world and he growls "that god. damned DEMOOOOOOOOOOOOON~!"

As his raging scream echoes through the library, Koakuma flies around looking for anyone that could help, but the only one she sees is the injured shrine maid, so she rushes straight for Rika in hopes she'll wake up and save her.

The little devil kneels beside her big sister and holds her by the shoulders, gently nudges her and whimpers "please Rika-onee-chan, wake up. He's going to kill us all."

The angelic maid softly whispers "Koa, little s-sis. I can't, it hurts."

Drake flies from below the bookshelves roaring "you goddamned DEMON! Release me from this spell!"

To him, the little red-haired devil looks like his beloved Mina, while Rika looks like a fallen orange-haired girl with large white wings in a red leotard and holding a golden spear.

Koakuma shouts "GET AWAY FROM BIG SIS!", then desperately springs upward and head-butts the boy on the gut, forcing a loud grunt out of him and pushing him away.

She screams when her sliced wing makes contact with the boy's rough clothing, but even with the renewed pain coursing around her head, she flies back to the shrine's maid, helps her on to her feet, then flies over to the second floor balcony.

From behind the bookshelves there, Kali whispers "little devil, is Rika alright? Rika girl, get up and slice that boy already, like you did to me that night!"

The weakened maid chuckles softly, kneels on the ground as soon as the devil releases her, then softly says "Kali, get out of here and look for help. Please, this may be your only chance."

The furious godling lands with a loud thud in front of the girls, and long before Koakuma can think, he cuts her diagonally across the chest, freeing himself from her spell and sighing with relief.

He lifts the sword and points it at her chest, but Rika pushes her away just as the blade's tip lunges forward, and gets stabbed on the right shoulder, saving her little sister from an undeserved ill fate, but feeling the cold and merciless blade cut her skin, muscles and bones.

The shadow behind the bookshelves gasps, then exclaims "no way! He killed Rika! No! Thi-this can't be!"

As Koakuma falls to the ground, the last thing her eyes see is her angelic sister being stabbed by the diamond blade, then her consciousness begins to fade as she whispers "so sorry... Rika... sis," and feels as her body hits the floor an instant before the rest of the world becomes nothing more than silent darkness.

Drake shows no surprise or compassion as the angel maid grunts and drops on her knees, and he pushes the blade further in, watches as the dust in his sword turns black, then sighs and says "what a foolish goddess you are. Giving your life for a weak little demon."

Rika's blood limit cancels out on its own and she desperately flaps her wings as the black dust slowly fills the blade, feeling how her very bones burn with the cold sting of death creeping its claws closer to her neck.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Garden of the Sun, Reimu, Marisa and Sanae drink tea with one burned up Yuka, who stirs a sugar cube into her cup as she says "you didn't have to hit me that hard. I was only playing around."

The Hakurei Maiden punches the table and angrily replies "threatening to lodge stems up our holes is **NOT** playful material!", causing Kurumi and the other guests to chuckle nervously and attempt to smile.

One of Yukari's small gaps opens up before Reimu, then drops a lilac yin-yang orb on the table before sealing up again, then the curious girl picks it up and asks "what the heck it's this?"

The back of the orb has a small black monitor, and before anyone else can ask, it turns on on its own and shows them the terrible scene at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, with Rika being murdered by a lunatic demon god.

She gasps as she looks at the image, chocking with the shock, then whispers "this is that thing Tenshi and I asked Yukari for. To-to keep an eye on Rika."

At the mansion's library, Drake pulls out his sword before its inside is completely covered with the black mist, and says "I would never really kill someone as fair as you, but if you try to attack me again, I will not hesitate a second time."

From the heavy-breathing maid's necklace, Reimu's voice echoes through as she screeches "you stupid bastard! RIKAAAA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO RIKA?"

The godling stares at the dying woman's chest, scowls, then shouts "calm down, she'll live! I just had to punish her for getting the in the way of the cleansing!"

"**CLEANSING?**" furiously shouts the shrine maiden. "You are attacking my friend's home! That is IT! When I get my hands on you, I am going to seal you up inside a **TOILET!**"

The boy stares dangerously at the girl, and in an ominous tone he says "so Gensokyo **is** indeed tainted fully, evident when even one such as you calls a demon by the name of 'friend'. It's a good thing I came here. I'll free you all very soon."

While Reimu keeps shouting curses at the boy, whom just ignores her and looks around the kneeling maid, probably searching for Koakuma or Flandre, from behind the bookshelves Kali keeps watching in secret.

She looks to the hole on the wall and thinks of sneaking past the boy and running away, saving her own hide, but then she looks at the maid.

Rika looks like she is in incredible pain; her skin looks pale, her wings droop like useless rags, her arms hang limp my her sides, unable to grip that sword on her right hand like she should, her eyes remains half-opened and her mouth remains frozen open as she softly breathes through it.

As she absorbs this horrible image, the shadow girl says to herself "I should be glad. The demon maid has been defeated, but instead I feel **sick** at this sight. And what's this feeling in my chest? It feels so tight, it hurts. Why won't it stop?"

The shrine maid turns her empty light-blue eyes to the bookshelves as though begging for help, and the shadow girl gulps and says "but I'm weak. I can't help you. Argh, what am I saying? I'm evil! I shouldn't care, and yet..."

She remembers the last few days with the maid, how regardless of being an evil shadow she was treated like an equal, with respect, and cared for like a friend by someone who should have just purified her on sight.

As these few images course through her mind she says to herself "she's treated me like a friend, even though I cursed her, feared her! But she kept begging for forgiveness, gave me food, made me feel... special? What the-? Why am I feeling like this now?"

Drake groans and lifts his sword once again, apparently ready to finish off the angelic woman, then the shadow exclaims "wait! He's going to take her away! The only one who has treated you so nicely! No, I can't let him! Even Kimi treats me like crap, but she doesn't!"

She slides out of hiding looking like a massive translucent black blanket that quickly wraps itself around the boy as she shouts "no! Leave her alone! She... she's mine! Go kill someone else!"

At Yuka's house, the receiver orb shuts off after Kali wraps herself around Drake, then Reimu punches it while shouting "what the hell is wrong with this epic piece of shi-"

Sanae grabs the red and white maiden from behind, preventing her from destroying the orb and finishing her sentence, and shouts "calm down! If you break it now you'll be sorry!"

All around the house, Yukari's normal and playful woman's voice echoes as she playfully says "that's right~! If it shuts itself off, that means there's no longer an emergency~"

The Hakurei maiden stands up, freeing herself from the Moriya maiden, then walks over to the exit while grumbling "like hell there isn't. I'm going there right now!"

She opens the door and walks right into a gap that sends her right back to her chair, then Marisa chuckles and says "and lady Sukima is at it again, ze."

The gap sage chuckles, then says "I'm sorry, but you have to stay here until it's time. Now be a good girl and wait patiently."

Reimu roars after springing back on her feet and furiously shouts "but what about **RIKA?**"

Back at the mansion, Kali wriggles her body around like never before, avoiding Drake's blood-covered sword while angrily saying "you won't touch her again! I won't let you, you mean god-headed moron!"

Drake growls after another missed sword swing and says "oh, what kind of retarded insult is that? Can't expect any less from a shadow, I guess!"

The weakened shrine maid watches from the sides, still unable to even blink, and as she watches the shadow avoiding sword swings she moans "no. Kali. run," while thinking "_that sword has my blood on it, white blood! Kali, get out of there! Just run away!_"

She suddenly notices a blue glow coming from her right, and when she manages to move her head enough to glance over, she notices the crystal on her sword's hilt is glowing with an intense blue light, so beautiful to the maid's eyes she can feel some strength return as her fighting spirits reawakens.

She smiles ever so weakly, moans when trying to speak, then thinks "_she's accepted me. She really has accepted me. I'm so happy! But she's still in danger! Rika, you have to move! If he strikes her down she's going to go away forever! You have to save her!_"

She manages to summon the strength to grip her sword once more, but is still far from strong enough to even lift her wings yet.

Meanwhile, Kali takes the shape of a snake with wings and swivels and twists her way around the godling's sword swings and holy shots, going as far as mockingly saying "ha-haa! Even Kimi has better aim than you, and she shoots me in the **dark!**"

Drake snarls and swings his sword with no luck of hitting, then says "the dragon? I already took care of her. All that's left is you and the two devils in here."

"Blah, blah, blah, yack all you want," taunts the shadow, who takes the shape of a wraith holding a spell card and declares "you're just a pissy virgin bully who likes to pick on beautiful girls. Shadow Morph, Binding Darkness!"

The area around them becomes pitch black, the godling grunts and screams "release me," and when the light returns, Kali has grown eight tentacles from her back, and is using them all to constrict the evil vile god in place, while several orbs of darkness grow around him.

"LET ME GO," furiously demands the boy, to which Kali replies "only if you swear on pain of death to leave Rika alone and leave this place like she asked!"

"NEVER!", shouts the stubborn godling, so the shadow girl just shrugs and casually says "eh, suit yourself."

The orbs constrict the boy's body and keep growing, squeezing the very air from his lungs and punishing his body with cold chills that travel through his very bones, which are crushed shortly after.

The orbs suddenly explode fiercely and the boy groans when they become smaller orbs that shape a black rose before scattering around and exploding with cold fury on his very skin.

The shrine maid has now managed to raise her sword and place it on the ground as a support, but try as she might, she still can't get on her feet, and though impressed by the shadow girl's quick thinking, she still worries that sword will pierce her.

With that blue glow shining on her face still, she pushes herself harder, grunting as she tries to pull herself back on to her feet.

* * *

Drake body makes a loud thud after Kali's spell ends, and with a triumphant smile on her face, the shadow girl takes her semi-human form and hovers over to Rika.

She gasps with excitement when she sees the maid trying to get back up on her feet and exclaims "Rika, you're alright! Wait' don't move! I'll come and hel-"

The angelic shrine maid manages to open her eyes and gasp, lifts her left arm and almost falls for it, then anxiously calls "Kali! Kali, no!"

Her body still fails her, yet strength is suddenly returning to her, though her limbs feel like cold gelatin, as she tries to crawl closer to her new friend.

The shadow girl gurgles as dark blood flows out of her mouth, then looks down as the diamond sword, covered with Rika's as well as Koakuma's and many others' blood, runs through her ribs.

From behind her Drake hatefully says "you little bitch, that actually hurt! Be purified and share a prison in hell with all your dark friends!"

The diamond sword fills with that white mist, a disturbing sound comes from it after it is full, Kali's limbs twitch and flail as he lifts her off the ground, and after everything stops, the shadow's limbs hang limp and the mist disappears, then he flicks her off the blade with disgust and says "next is that blonde devil."

The body falls only a few feet away from Rika, who stares on, dumbstruck as tears fill her eyes, her brain unable to accept what has just happened, and yet the proof lies in front of her and also beside her, when the blue glow slowly dims down and the crystal turns dark.

She screams the shadow girl's name and somehow gains the strength to crawl to her, then whimpers erratically as she breathes through her mouth, and the only words she manages to whisper after reaching her are "don't die please!"

The shadow girl's eyes look empty, and yet she moves, surprising even the accursed godling, who stands a few feet away, disgracing his honor further by snarling at the scene in front of him and muttering "she actually survived?"

Rika can't believe what she sees, but hopes it's not just a dream, and combs Kali's white hair as she cries "hold on. Kali, hold on! I'll get you out of here! Eirin can fix you!"

The pale girl smiles, looks around as though looking for the maid's eyes, then closes her own, giving up on the search, then softly says "ah, so my gut. was right about you. Ri-Rika. I was. wrong for. calling you a-a demon. Forgive me."

The maid smiles back and shakes her head, then says "it's alright. Just stop talking now. I need to get you to Eirin. D-don't worry! We'll make it!"

Kali softly shakes her head and whispers "thank you very much, but it's too late now. I'm holding on by a thread, but you have to know. Thank you Rika Onkamikami, for showing me there are those out there that can truly care for others, even someone like me, a mere shadow of another shadow."

"I played the bad girl because I am a bitch, but even so, you showed me you cared, and you still show me this now. Too bad I cannot see it anymore."

Rika combs the girl's hair faster, saying "no. No, no, no, no! You have to hold on! You're my friend. You can't die!"

The white-haired shadow fights with gravity, trying to keep her head straight as she grasps her necklace, which has taken a dirty bronze color.

The angelic maid holds her friend's head so she can handle the task, and after removing the necklace the dying shadow offers it to the maid, whom promptly accepts it, though can barely see with all the tears invading her eyes, then the dying shadow asks "what color. is it now?"

"Gold", sobs the maid, to which the girl smiles, chuckles, then says "good. Hold on to this for me... wi-will 'ya?"

Rika nods rapidly, then suddenly feels something wispy flowing through her fingers.

She opens her eyes wide, her tears start flowing faster, and she waves her hands around while crying "wait. WAIT, NO! Don't do this! Why is this happening? My lady! Miss Reimu help! Why is she disappearing like this? Someone stop this!"

Kali's body slowly becomes a mist, and no matter how desperate she is, every attempts the maid makes to hold her fail as her hands go through what little is left of the body.

Finally, the smiling shadow touches the ground and her body dissipates like a cloud, leaving a black stain on the carpeted balcony.

Rika sobs, chokes on her tears, yet somehow she inhales enough air to scream "**DON'T GOOOOOO! A burial! Please allow me to give you a proper buri-al! ...KALI PLEASE!**"

The angel winged girl's body reaches its limit; the sorrow caused by this death weakens her further, her heart feels heavier by the second, and every beating feels like a sharp blade keeps puncturing it, then she falls.

She drops on her side, unable to stop the crying and chocking on her own tears, even though she is desperate for air and begging for her blood shot eyes to stop burning so much with her own tears.

She wails as she grips the piece of stained carpet beside her while holding The golden necklace against her chest, all while thinking "_I failed!** I failed again! I was too weak to save her! **She needed me and I couldn't do anything! Murdered! Another one murdered, and I couldn't-!_"

She coughs and sobs before crying "I couldn't save her! I failed again!"

By now, Drake Stastriker is beginning to feel a very uncomfortable sting on his heart as he watches the angelic maid cry so much.

He takes a step closer, but as soon as that foot taps closer to the girl, Rika's face turns bright red as she summons what strength she doesn't have and screams "**STAY AWAY!**"

The boy takes his foot back, thinks carefully on what to do next, then smiles nervously and says "bu-bu-but you don't have to cry! Look, I know I said something nasty there, but that was out of spite! R-right now her soul is purified and ascending to heavens! To the gods!"

"**MURDERER!**" is all the maid manages to scream before continuing her sobbing again.

The vile godling snorts and disdainfully says "tch, I just did her a favor. It's nothing to mope about," raises his defenses once more, then gasps and turns around.

From behind, a girl screams "RIKA! What did you do to her you insufferable bastard?"

"**DRRRAAAAAAAAKE**", screams a boy with pure rage.

"_What have you done? You idiot, you did it! Even after the warnings!"_ shouts a third voice that seems to echo all over the library.

At Yuka's house, Reimu, Marisa and Sanae sit still, Yuka stares dangerously sternly forward, and Kurumi stands by her mistress left with a blood-thirsty glare on her eyes.

Yukari shares the same blood-thirsty glare, and with her parasol and fan open, covering all but her eyes and a bit of her nose, she says "he crossed the line. Reimu, Marisa, Moriya, the boy **flew** over the line and landed well beyond the forbidden point."

"What happened," asks the Hakurei maiden in a dangerously low undertone.

The three youkai's eyes glow scarlet as the gap sage says "he will come here **TODAY.** Girls, I am still too weak to deal with him, but you five will be more than enough."

Even the black and white witch stares on coldly as Yukari continues "when he comes, you will punish him. You will teach him to never mess with the balance of Gensokyo, nor any other world doomed by his visit, ever again."

"It will be done," softly says Yuka in a dangerously dark tone, and although not fully sure of what has happened, Reimu knows when Yukari is plain playing around, and when she is being deadly serious.

She can also feel the deep and painful sorrow her maid is feeling, and this only adds to her desire to permanently seal whatever gets in her way.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Kyo, Luna Rivers, Kimi, Kali, Leon, Lina and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Kyo's spell cards: Flames of Elegance, and Fire and Wind Sign, Desert Gales;

Kimi's spell cards: Dragon Sign, Blue Dragon's Fist, and Wings of the Red Dragon;

Koakuma's spell card: Mind Sign, Pleasurable Mind;

And Kali's/Agava's spell card: Shadow Morph, Binding Darkness;

Were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Rika's spell card: "Quick Silver Kouryuu Metsugasou no Zanryu Roueijin" (Quick Sliver Savage Radiant Dragon Fang Fury) was created by Snapshot 2010

OCT 6 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I'm at a bit of a loss for words about the chapter itself. It's just something that had to happen for the story.**

**As for the second part of this, I will first continue with UG, as per current tradition, then quickly pick up on IS and finish this. Then again, after proofreading this, I don't know if my own heart can bare the wait. We'll see what happens.**


	16. Overdue Punishment P2

**WARNING: Harsh language and bloody scenes ahead. This is a VEEEERY long chapter, so please enjoy some snacks while reading.**

* * *

Outside the walls of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Ail, Tenshi And Suzaku fly over the road leading to the mansion and stare in shock at the piles of bodies all over the ground and in front of the gates.

Some of the fairies have revived, but remain seated while staring with confusion at their surroundings, Luna Rivers sits under a tree next to a few fairies and Medicine, who seems to be completely out cold, and up ahead of them, Kyo and Kimi still lie unconscious on the ground.

"Who could have done this?", asks the brown-haired boy after spotting the wounded Meiling holding her bleeding stomach with both hands and wincing in pain under a broken tree.

They begin their descent when the gate guard waves her hands while shaking her head, and using all her strength to subdue the pain from the gash on her stomach, she shouts "inside! Go inside! Hurry!", then lets herself drop back down to breathe.

The unlikely trio share confused and worried stares, all three wondering which course of action to take.

"**STAY AWAY!**" shouts a familiar voice that comes from the hole on the far right side of the mansion.

The celestial gasps and exclaims "wait, I know that voice! That's..."

"**MURDERER!**" shouts that familiar voice again, causing all three to gasp at once, then Suzaku exclaims "_that's master!_", and she and the blue-haired girl speed off, leaving Ail behind, who calls "wait for me!"

Tenshi pulls Ail by the back of the shirt and all three reach the large hole leading straight into the mansion's library, and gasp in horror at what they see within.

Damaged bookshelves, blood splattered in random places, several messes of books lying everywhere, the Kori twins' frames glowing where last the two stood, Koakuma lying on her face with left head-wing missing its higher half and bleeding on the balcony's carpet, and Rika, lying on her side, crying her eyes out uncontrollably while staring at the black spot in front of her.

And then there's the only person standing, Drake Starstriker, snorting at the fallen angel maid and saying "tch, I just did her a favor. It's nothing to mope about," then gasping and raising his defenses after suddenly turning around.

The celestial's eyes glow with intensity as her face turns feral and she furiously screams "RIKA! What did you do to her, you insufferable bastard?"

The dense boy's face turns red with rage as he looks around the destruction, then a fully functional, but thin blade of light appears on his right hand and he furiously screams "**DRAAAAAAAKE!**"

The vermilion bird takes flight and angrily says through telepathy for all to hear "_what have you done? You idiot, you did it! Even after all the warnings!_"

* * *

The godling snarls at the celestial girl, points at her with his sword and demands "what are you doing here? Get out! I am the one cleansing this place, celestial! And you know damned well you can't interfere with me either!"

Seeing her angel-winged friend in that state, and the way that god-in-training spoke to her, has ignited something within Hinanai, and she somehow flies too fast for Drake to detect her, gives him a right hook to the nose that sends him flying twenty feet to the right, then rushes to her fallen friend.

She kneels beside the crying Rika, picks her up by the shoulder and waist, making sure not to touch the wound on her right shoulder while anxiously asking "what's wrong? This wound is not that bad, so why are you crying so much? What else did he do to you? Rika, say something!"

As the vermilion bird lands in front of the dark stain to look up at her master, said girl cries "he killed her! He kih-hilled Kali! I couldn't save her! I couldn't!"

She drowns and chokes in her own sobs and tears and is unable to form any more words, so Tenshi lifts her friend's limp body to apply a surprisingly gentle embrace and whispers "it's ok, it's alright. I am here now. He won't harm you anymore. Now let it all out. I'll take it all!"

Suzaku's feathers ruffle on their own, her eyes ignite in flames, all as her own rage begins to rise inside her heart, then she looks to the godling, whom dares to rise from the ground with sword on hand ready to attack, and telepathically says "_you **MONSTER!** You have no idea the wrong you have caused here! You should LEAVE before you do any more harm!_"

Drake is already thinking of a way to attack, but the red bird is already striking him hard on the face with an insanely quick beak swipe that slams him hard against the wall of bookshelves behind him yet again and threatens "_that was your last warning!_"

The monstrous god kicks off the wall and goes right toward the bird, swinging his sword with as much force as possible, but missing each swing miserably as she sways and moves with ease.

Ail flies above them, somehow managing to stay afloat, even though Rika's crying has his nerves on edge, and shoots several blue orbs and lasers at the godling, while the red bird shoots dancing fireballs with every wing-flap, and speedy fireballs from her eyes.

Starstriker roars and swings his sword around himself to cut and deflect the bullets, shoots rapid holy orbs at the dense boy above, then throws a light grenade at the vermilion bird, who dodges it thinking it's just an ordinary orb, and screeches when it explodes to her right.

Rika gasps, chocking on her own sobs, then weakly flaps her sagging wings as she cries out loud "**SUZU-CHAN! He killed Suzu-chan!**"

Tenshi does her best to comfort her, tightening her embrace, cooing sweet words and shushing her, then the red bird flies over behind the celestial so her master can see her and calm down, then says "_Ail, master is too upset! We have to get this **idiot** out of here!_"

"On it," declares the confident boy as he raises his thin weapon and grins at the godling while easily deflecting all the holy blasts with his own weapon of light.

Drake growls, annoyed at Ail for smiling so smugly after blocking those attacks so easily, then rushes straight at him, shouting "I'll be damned before I let a half-freak like you make a fool of me!"

A red blur jumps from between the ground bookshelves, strikes the godling by the side and sends him flying straight to the hole leading outside, missing it by a few inches and only managing to flatten him against the solid wall.

"Flan!", excitedly exclaims the dense boy, and the clearly annoyed blonde vampire raises her right hand, wiggles her fingers, then says "he broke my finger! It hurt, but I fixed it," then she looks at Anilan, and with tear-filled eyes she says "and he killed onee-chan! He was going to kill big brother Ail too! I will help big brother and get him out, but DON'T DIE, or I will get mad!"

"Wait a minute," begins the half-youkai boy, looking around the library as he realizes he's not feeling Remilia's presence at all, then asks "Remi is... She is gone?"

The little sister frowns sadly and lowers her head, then whimpers "yeah. He broke her bats."

The realization hits the dense boy hard, his eyes begin to glow light red, his face turns red with rage, and in an ominous tone of voice, he asks "that bastard... killed **REMILIA?**"

A strange energy rises behind the dense one, depicting the image of an orange tiger, then the crystal Palace of Pandemonium, then a giant green frog, a giant white snake with red eyes, and finally, the yin-yang symbol.

His sword of light grows larger and the excited little vampire forgets her pain, cheers and says "YAY! I can do that too!", summons her giant red Lavatein and places her sight on the demonic godling again.

Furious, Ail growls softly, forgets about his powers being out of whack, then sternly commands "Suzaku, Tenshi, forgive me, but this stupid bastard is mine! Take care of Rika and try to find any survivors. Me and Flandre are going to severely punish this alien retard!"

Even Rika stops crying when she feels the dense boy's energy rise, feels as Tenshi nods silently, and watches as Suzaku reluctantly bows and says "_fine, but don't go over your heads. Look what he did to everyone here. And if you need my help **CALL ME!**_"

Both Flandre and Ail look sideways at the fire-red bird, grin, then swiftly fly toward the evil godling, who has just pushed himself off the wall and glowers around.

Before he takes notice of his attackers, the blonde vampire kicks his back, shoots several scarlet shards and pushes him up toward the dense big-brother, who swings his blade, pushing the moronic god upward, then shoots three concentrated orange bullets.

The blonde vampire reaches the god in training before he recovers, grabs him by the throat, smashes him face-first against the wall, clenches her right fist and blows up his head again, shoots massive red orbs, pulls him out of the wall, tosses him up, then strikes him hard upward with her massive sword.

The dense boy stabs the godling on the chest with his sword, makes the monster flinch when he shoots blue and white petals straight at his face, flip-kicks him upward, then he and the young Scarlet regroup a little higher up, swing their swords simultaneously, and successfully smash Drake out of the library, give each other a high-five, then chase after him.

Tenshi and Suzaku watch awestruck, unable to believe how easily those two dealt with that god after he had caused so much damage, but their attention turns to Rika again, who sobs and cries "I couldn't even give her a proper burial. It's all his fault, but I should have saved her, but I failed!"

The celestial and bird want nothing more than to calm the maid down, but before either can think of something, they turn their heads around when from below they hear Sakuya sighing with relief and saying "finally, he's gone."

Even the sobbing shrine maid opens her eyes excitedly, some light returning to them upon seeing Izayoi flying up to them, holding something on her hands and saying "I sincerely apologize for not coming to your aid before, but if that monster had found out my lady was still alive-"

"Sakuya, enough! You have to rest or those wounds won't heal," commands the head of Remilia Scarlet, which rests on the maid's arms as she patiently waits for her new body to grow.

Tenshi and Suzaku both share the same look of surprise as they stare at the head of the Scarlet Mansion, then the annoyed vampire furiously asks "WHAT? Never seen a vampire recovering? Well TAKE GOOD LOOK FOR THE LAST TIME, for you won't get another chance!"

She has recovered her skin, eyes and hair, and oddly enough, she has grown tiny bat-like wings underneath her ears, but that's about it. She is just a head with black bat wings.

Sakuya drops on her seat on the balcony, unable to keep herself on her feet any longer, then softly says "please, we need to get lady Patchouli. She's up on the third floor."

Rika starts to laugh softly on her friend's arms, though her tears don't stop, and feeling offended, the silver-haired maid angrily asks "and what, may I ask, is so darn funny?"

"Yeah, Rika, that's so unlike you," says the celestial in a tone of disbelief, thinking her friend has broken.

The angelic maid continues laughing and sobbing, lets herself fall back on Tenshi's arms, and while looking at the ceiling, she cries "Remilia is alive! Flandre won't have to suffer again! He-he didn't destroy this wonderful home after all!"

The girls all share confused glances, then the blue-haired celestial shrieks when the angel-winged maid closes her eyes, expels her held breath, then lets herself drop limp.

Before Tenshi panics any further, Suzaku tweets and calmly says "_don't worry, she's just exhausted. She will wake up soon._"

Even the vampire head sighs with relief, and after the shrine's maid is gently placed on the floor, the Mistress says "alright, just let her rest. **We**, meaning **you**, have a job to do!"

* * *

Outside the mansion Ail and Flandre continue beating Drake all the way to the right side of the lake's shore, causing frightened birds and fairies in the area to fly away for dear life.

On the ground, the vampire has freed herself of her sword and is striking the sturdy and stubborn godling on the face and chest with her bare claws and fists, and although he grunts, her fury increases when she realizes she's still only doing minimal damage, and that he recovers almost as soon as she's done hitting him.

She hops away, snarls as she raises her right hand, clenches it tighter than she needs to, and his right shoulder explode, but once again, the limb is restored by the time the dust clears.

The little sister keeps her fist clenched as she growls, a vein pops on her forehead and fist, then she shouts "why the **** can't I break this stupid ***** piece of ***** of an useless GOD!"

On the sky above, from within a black blob, a girl happily shouts "ooh! It's the potty-mouthed girl again," to which Flandre shoots an orb at and shouts "SHUT THE HELL UP, RUMIA!", blasting the black blob from the sky.

Drake recovers from the assault and takes the chance to get close to the distracted blonde girl, punches her across the face with his sword on hand, increasing the force of impact, then he shoots a thin holy beam through her left shoulder, making her scream out in pain.

Before the godling makes the next move, Ail swoops down from nowhere and punches Starstriker across the face with his weapon hand, increasing both force and sting of impact, and as the vile god flies away, he also shoots a beam that pierces through his skin, making a god yelp out in pain.

The dense one raises his sword of light, Shinki's blessing glowing brightly on his bracelet, and asks "how do you like THAT, huh? How does it feel to bet bullied by someone else, for a change?"

The monster god grunts, holding his left shoulder as he stands up, wincing in pain as the wound inflicted by the half-youkai slowly heals, then defiantly shouts "you are all a bunch of MORONS! I am not **bullying** anybody, I am **purifying** this land so that the light may shine over!"

Ail's face becomes dark and cold, his gaze deadly, the image of the divine frog glows with intensity on his bracelet, then a pair of hands made of rock spring from the ground and clap Drake between them, crushing his body as they squeeze him tight, then the half-youkai boy says "you are a goddamned god, not a human priest! You are supposed to keep balanced, not go around playing 'hero of the humans' and taking single sides!"

"What would you know about that, you half-life FAILURE!", shouts the godling, hitting an obvious raw nerve on the dense boy that saddens him, then grins and continues "oh yes, I know about you, how you're supposed to be this 'enlightened' being, whose choices always take one bad step at every turn! Especially that last misstep you took."

Flandre Scarlet jumps over her big brother, punches and kicks the god with her scarlet-flame covered limbs, using moves taught to her by Meiling, then shouts "don't listen to this devil! He is bad! They called Remilia onee-chan the devil, but she was not!", then points at the boy and finishes "THIS ONE is the devil!"

Starstriker coughs out some blood after his stomach resettles itself, then angrily shouts "who the HELL are you calling a devil when you yourself ARE ONE!"

"Don't you dare talk to her like that," roars Ail as he lunges forward with his sword of light aimed at the godling, stabs him on the chest with it, then sends him flying backward all the way to the lake's shore.

The god in training manages to get on his knees after rolling near the water's edge, and during this moment of respite he thinks "_I underestimated these two! Separated I could stand a chance, but as long as they are together... There must be something I can do. I need to get rid of one before I can take out the other. Easier said than done._"

That's when he turns his head around, he sees the glistening, pure and crystalline water of the Misty Lake shimmering with the after midday's sun, then a sinister grin takes his face.

He hops back to avoid two danmaku showers, one of blue lasers and white orbs, the other of scarlet shards and massive red orbs, then takes flight toward the center of the lake.

Ail flies closer to Flandre, who clicks her tongue and says "dammit, we missed," then he places his hand on her shoulder to get her attention and says "careful Flan, he's already recovered. We need to strike him together if we want to beat him."

The blonde vampire nods once, and she and her big brother fly straight after Drake, keeping their eyes fixed on him for any signs of sudden movements.

The godling stops when he believes is at a perfect spot above the water, looks to the half-youkai and blonde vampire coming straight for him, then chuckles and says to himself "excellent. This water is pure enough to purify them both at once. I'm recovered enough now, so I just have to play my cards right."

The boy and the vampire get in range, he summons his weapon of light again, she surrounds her arms with her scarlet energy, twist around each other to try and confused the god, then split up and shoot small bullets.

Drake hovers in place and swings his sword with both hands at a blinding speed, cutting and deflecting the insane danmaku shower closing in on him from all sides, then roars as he expands his energy to cancels the rest of the bullets.

Ail and Flandre take a dive straight at their target, aiming to smash his head in, and just as they are in range the godling reveals his bladed gauntlet of light on his left hand, stabs Ail's left shoulder with it, and throws him straight to the water.

Almost an instant after, he moves slightly to the left and lets the vampire fly past him, kicks her stomach hard with his knee, then grabs her by the throat and smiles as he says "time to purify you too!", and before she can react, he punches her forehead with all his might, using the sword's hand guard for more power, and weakens her considerably.

He immediately takes a dive, stretching his left arm forward so that Flandre plunges into the water first, his vile smile turning evil as he gets closer and closer to the body of water, then something kicks him from the side, forcing him to raise his arm and release the vampire.

Ail jumps on the vile godling's head, sinking it into the water, then catches the blonde vampire in mid-air, lands on top of the water beside the enemy, then runs to the shore as fast as he can, gently places the young Scarlet on the ground away from the water, then turns his angry gaze back at the monster god.

Drake, being a god, stands on the water as he shoots a dark and dirty glare at the dense half-youkai, points at him with his sword, and furiously asks between hard breaths "you. walk. on **WATER?**"

Ail steps on the lake water again, activates his sword of light, though quickly notices its slowly becoming smaller and weaker, then says "yea. You got a problem with that?", while thinking "_shit, I'm getting tired already! But I can't let him know that. Besides, I need to keep him away from Flan! He won't touch her again, I won't let him!_"

The godling takes flight, his eyes glow with hatred and rage, he points his sword at Anilan, and furiously says "only gods and highly illuminated beings can do that. What the hell are you? You are not a god, and you are most certainly **not **illuminated!"

The dense boy gulps when he feels Starstriker's energy pass through him like cold blades, but he stands his ground, raises his sword, and when he tries to take flight he immediately realizes he cannot.

He fakes having just hopped to get momentum and starts speed-walking to keep up his appearance and thinks "_shit, this is bad. My powers are out of whack again,_" then shouts "then I wonder how is it that you could stand on the water. You're just another fallen god turned to demon!"

The tiger symbol on the supposedly enlightened boy's bracelet starts to glow as he begins to skate on the water, something that just occurred to him he should be doing from the start, and picks up speed the closer he gets to the godling's position.

The god in training snarls after the insult, grabs his sword with both hands, then dives toward the half-youkai and shouts "I'll make you regret ever questioning my godhood!"

* * *

Ail quickly finds himself blocking a powerful sword strike by Drake and pushing hard against it, almost sinking into the water due to the pressure alone, but saves himself when he accidentally slips his left foot and slides beneath the vile godling.

The lucky dense boy miraculously manages to slide up straight again and stake his way around his opponent, smiles when he realizes his new position, then rushes toward Starstriker and swings his sword with momentum backing him up.

The strike sends the godling skidding back a few feet, but he recovers quickly and roars as he runs toward the dense one to attack again.

They clash swords one again, but this time they free their blades swiftly and try a side swing, and as both blades graze each other Drake takes the chance to summon his gauntlet and stabs Ail on the stomach.

Even with the surge of pain flooding his head, the dense boy lifts his left hand and shoots a laser beam the pierces the godling's ribs, and somehow Ail's attack causes enough harm for Drake to scream and flinch, then stumble backward away from his attacker.

Both boys end up kneeling on the water, the dense one almost plunging right in, when the frog and Pandemonium symbols glow bright on his bracelet and water vines form under the evil god and rise to restrain him.

The god in training notices the bracelet on his opponent's wrist, he tenses up, and with all his rage he shouts "**why? Why are the gods conspiring against me? Do they want to keep her away from me? I WON'T LET THEM!**"

Anilan rubs his wound a bit while it recovers, closes his eyes to try and activate his Yozoragan blood limit, then sighs when nothing happens and says to himself "great. Guess I'm going to have to rough it," then raises a spell card.

He stares at Drake and loudly says "man, and they say I'm stupid and thick! Don't you realize that what you are doing is just plain wrong? Even the other gods are defending this place. Take the hint already!"

"You don't understand," shouts the godling, water running down his eyes as despair claims him. "I have to purify the lands I visit, turn them to the light, so that I can move on to the next world and make others happy! It's the only way I'll get to see Mina again!"

Ail raises an eyebrow, lowers his spell card, stares in disbelief, then says "wait, what? My goodness, did you just contradict your own actions just now? Look around you! You're not making ANYONE happy."

He takes a deep breath, collects his thoughts, then says "you attacked my friend Kyo without a reason, made Byakuren question herself, almost killed Nue, killed two rabbits at Eintei and pained those living there, almost killed Yukari, Kimi, attacked the people of that mansion when they didn't even glance your way, KILLED Remilia and Kali, made Rika, the **sweetest** girl you'll ever meet, and Flandre cry, and who knows what else you have done wrong."

The dense boy recovers his breath from the long winded speech, looks up at the trapped god, then asks "do you really think you're making anyone happy?"

Drake Starstriker stares into his opponent's yellowish-brown eyes and actually shows some sort of remorse, but it is short lived, and his dark-brown eyes get filled with rage, glow faint red, then he roars "LIAR!"

He takes a deep breath and shouts "I can see the darkness in you! You just want to trick me, but it won't work! I will NEVER fall for your evil tricks!"

Ail sighs, shakes his head while placing his hand lightly on his forehead, then looks up with pity and says "you're just being thickly stubborn now, so I'm afraid the fight must go on, and that I must stop you, for the good of Gensokyo."

He lifts his spell card with his left hand, stares deeply into the godling's eyes, and declares "Light Sign, Within The Jewel's Core!"

The Yin-Yang symbol on the bracelet begins to glow and spin as the spell card activates, then seven bright stars with eight sharp edges materialize around the dense boy and move in a circle around him.

In a flash, the stars move at the speed of light straight at Drake, leaving behind randomly placed beams of light that rain light-blue petal bullets that home in straight on to the vile god, as though wanting to purify him.

Starstriker screams out loud as Ail's spell burns his flesh, and just like when being attacked by Shinki, the god in training feels great pain as the spell punishes him without mercy, but unlike with Shinki, he feels he can resist this attack a little easier.

While Anilan is concentrating on his spell the vile godling observes how the watery vines work, and as soon as he notices is a simple constricting spell, he summons his clawed gauntlet and breaks his left arm free, shoots a beam of light at the base of the vines, and the second that he is free, he shoots a large holy orb straight at his attacker's face.

The dense boy screams when pain, surprise and shock mix, then holds his burning face, canceling his spell, loses his blade of light, and almost plunges into the water.

The monstrous god in training grabs the dense boy by the right arm just under the bracelet, pulls him closer, then crushes his arm, making Ail scream so loud to the air, even the water ripples from the intensity.

From the island, Flandre rushes in with her Lavatein already active while desperately calling "**I'm coming big brother! I'll save you!**"

Drake smiles vilely, lifts his sword, points the blade at the little vampire, and Ail can only watch as this evil god fills his arm and blade with a pure white light, focuses it into a ball at the tip of the blade, and before shooting it he whispers "watch how your dark girlfriend becomes cleansed in the purest of lights."

The unbearable surge of pain flowing through the dense boy's body prevents him from stopping the vile god, and can only watch as the massive orb of light flies toward the younger Scarlet.

Flandre grins and simply flies over the orb, but gets surprised when the light reaches for her and traps her, then she screams at the top of her lungs as the light immediately envelops her and starts to burn her skin while pushing her all the way back to the island.

"F-Flaaaan," weakly calls Ail, who grunts when Drake pulls him up and asks "let's see, how did you get this curious bracelet, and how come someone as full of darkness as you has so many godly blessings here?"

Flandre's screaming stops after a while, the dense boy with a heart of gold feels himself getting severely depressed, then Starstriker comments "hmm, this is odd," and gasps when the images of the furious Shinki, Shou, Kanako and Suwako appear before him.

As they glare at him, Ail hears Kanako in his mind saying "_Ail, the moment he lets go, take off flying and open a gap to the Garden of the Sun. Make SURE he follows you. Now get ready!_"

The boy can feel the pain subsiding, a surge of energy fill his very being, and feeling confident and hungry for revenge for Flandre and his friends, he nods and thinks "_yeah, I'm ready! Let's make him pay!_"

Before the godling notices Ail's recovery, a large white snake rises from the bracelet's crystal and lunges its open mouth at his face.

He yelps and releases the dense boy, who takes flight and takes the chance to shoot his best beam straight at the monster god's back, piercing his skin and drawing blood, making himself feel good, then shouts "that was for **FLANDRE**¸ you son of a **DEMON COW!**"

The taunt worked, evident when the demonic god turns a fiery face at him and shouts "YOUUUU! I'll cut our your goddamned tongue and burn it on a stack while I rip off you HEAD!"

Ail opens a gap to the Garden of the Sun as ordered, flies through it as fast as he currently can, and Starstriker darts inside after him at full speed.

The gap closes up, and already the chaotic peace begins to return to the Misty Lake and the Scarlet Devil Mansion, even with the losses suffered that day.

* * *

The Garden of the Sun, a peaceful piece of land reigned by flowers of all kinds, though dominated mostly by sunflowers, which have begun to whither as autumn gets closer.

Ail's gap opens just before the first bed of flowers, and a second after its open, the boy flies out, holding his right arm close to his chest and wincing in pain, and heads straight forward, hoping to reach Yuka's house, and praying she's in the mood to help.

Drake speeds right out of the gap just before it closes up, quickly catches up above the dense boy and says "so you think you can just sneak an attack and insult me, then just run away? I don't think so," then shoots a bright piercing beams that cuts a hole on the center of Anilan's back and punches the boy with his clawed gauntlet of light on the neck down to the flowerbed, where he crashes before his grunt of pain ends.

A moment of blindness saves the dense boy from seeing how violently he falls straight onto the bed of flowers, and all he can do now is hold his broken arm and clench his eyes shut while waiting for the ride to end.

The ride has stopped; he can feel the dirt lifted under his body, the many flower stems knocked around him, but he can't feel his legs or his right arm anymore.

Probably a blessing, considering the pain from it would probably be maddening by now, though the legs is something he definitely wishes he could feel right now.

He feels when the godling lands beside him, and starts to breathe hard through his mouth as he attempts to turn around.

Drake kicks Ail's side, sending a jolt of pain through his nervous system when the energy from the kick penetrates his very bones.

Even with the pain he's feeling and the limbs he can't feel, Ail still smiles at the vile monster while thinking "_so, after all of this, after all I have been through, I am going to die by the hands of this murderer. Ugh, I couldn't avenge my friends either. That's one regret right there._"

The murderous god kneels, looks at the boy in the eyes, then says "you had great potential to be a great warrior of the light. Makes me wonder why would you chose to side with the darkness and try to save those devils."

Ail can only hear mumbles coming from the boy besides him while he continues thinking "_ah, but after what I did here, the damage I caused, not just to me an Reimu, but to the timeline itself it no wonder. No wonder Mima is so mad. I bet Yukari is equally mad at me. Not that it matters anymore._"

Drake stands up, looks down to the boy, then says "well, you really annoyed me back there, so this has become a bit personal now. Still, your purification will be treated as the rest. Say hello to the gods when you meet them up there. Tell them I'll be coming soon."

Again, the dense boy can't hear a word the godling is telling him, but can see how he raises his sword, readying the killing move, and thinks "_well, this is it. I know I have died before, but I can't help but feel scared. Oh well, I hope the pain is short lived. And... here it comes._"

Starstriker wastes no more time and thrusts the sword straight into Ail's chest, making a horrible sound of slicing flesh and breaking bones that mixes with the gurgled grunt as the boy spits out some blood.

The blade fills with a dark grey mist at a rapid pace, and all the godling does while witnessing this is smile and say "well, first time I see this color, and it's filling so quickly too. Seems my sword likes you."

Anilan Inmodo Leuch's body convulses as he groans and screams after the blade fills up and glows dark grey, then he is silenced as his body falls limp on the destroyed flowerbed, his smile gone, carried away by the wind that suddenly blows all over the flower field.

The murderous god stares down at the dead boy and wonders why would allies of light join the ranks of the darkness.

He shrugs, strong in his belief that what he is doing is the right thing, that it is what a god should do, then pulls his sword and begins looking around, wondering where he is, and how he can reach the Scarlet Mansion again to finish what he started.

He feels his body being pushed forward by something small but strong, then grunts when a pink parasol breaks through his back and the left of his chest, and a sweetly ominous woman's voice asks "and who might you be?"

There is a moment of pause where the monster godling grunts and coughs out some blood, then the woman ominously sweetly asks "hmm, that was too tough for you, so let me rephrase. Why did you destroy those precious flowers, and why. **in the HELL! is MY FAVORITE PET BOY DEAD ON THEM?**"

Before he can answer, Drake finds himself being swung above a green-haired woman who uses a parasol like a sword, then is smashed head-first on to the ground so hard, he makes a small crater upon impact, away from the flowers.

He manages to roll away, but remains kneeling on the ground when his eyes meet the new sight.

That woman and four others kneel beside Ail's body, all staring down with pale faces and looks of disbelief.

"Oh no," whispers Marisa with hopelessness in her voice.

Reimu chokes, tears start rolling down her cheeks without stop, then she whimpers "A-Ail? Anilan? Why can't I sense him?"

Sanae, though crying, smiles and places her hand on the boy's stiffening shoulder and says "n-no, this is a-a phase. H-he's going to wake up again, you'll see. Very soon. He... is going to wake up."

Kurumi lowers her head, covers her shoulder with her wings, and with a sad smile on her face she says "Miss Yuka, I failed. I failed my oath. I didn't protect him."

Yuka sighs, moves closer to the boy's knees, lean over to close his eyes, then says "this poor flower. Cut from his roots before they settled in their rightful place. Such a shame."

The Moriya Shrine maiden begins to hyperventilate, throws herself on the boy and screams "come on! Wake up! Ail-kun, this is not funny! **WAKE UP!**"

She takes out her gohei, shouts "come on you stupid wound, HEAL!", and strikes him repeatedly on the head, then on the wound on his chest while shouting "a miracle! He'll live with a miracle!"

Surprisingly enough, it is the witch who pulls her away and holds her in a warm embrace so that she looks away, then comfort her by saying "calm down. Hitting won't work now. Just calm down."

As Sanae cries away on Marisa's shoulder, the other girls stare in shock as that boy, whom had one problem fall on his lap after another, is finally put to rest, and horror at the sight of his skin turning bluish rather fast.

Drake has healed fully, his clothes magically restored, and feeling annoyed at the scene he stands up and loudly says "why can't you be happy for him? I purified his soul and sent him straight to the gods! He's probably shaking hands with one of them as we spe-augh!"

He doesn't know when, or how it happened, but his throat is being gripped by the one called Yuka, and her strength is actually causing him fright.

She slowly raises him up, staring darkly at his face, no deceiving smile or sweet tone of voice as she says "even I know when to shut up, but it seems a whelp like you needs to learn that lesson yet."

She looks to the left and commands "Kurumi!", then turns her attention back to the godling and says "so allow me to teach you the **beauty** of a shut mouth on an undesirable cockroach that is loved by none and hated by all!"

She throws him away from her field of flowers, immediately chases after him, kicks him hard on the back when in reach, shouts "Original Master Spark!", and after her beam fries his body, Kurumi appears from above and flip-kicks him down to the ground, where he grunts out loud after his body bounces against the cold dirt.

* * *

Drake immediately rolls away, avoiding another umbrella-thrust by Yuka, and even as dizzy as he feels he shoots a straight beam at her, which she easily blocks with her hand, mocking his strength with a grin.

Before he has the chance to comment, Kurumi swoops down, grabs him by the face, lifts him seven feet in the air, and the second she sees him move a finger, she winds her back as far as she can and smashes her hard vampire forehead on his, sending his dazed self hard against the ground.

As soon as he gets up and groans he is bombarded by saw-like flowers and blade-like sunflower petals, white energy orbs from the sky, and just as soon as those are over, the flower youkai grabs the boy by the neck an throws him against a large rock, where he groans as he slowly slides back to the ground, leaving his blood to stain the solid surface.

Yuka groans with frustration and asks "ugh, can't that sword of yours fly somewhere else already?"

"It, gurk! will only leave my hand when commanded," groans the godling as he stands up as if nothing has happened to him, then stares straight into the green-haired woman's eyes.

She shoots spinning flowers and he rolls to the left, the blonde vampire dive-kicks his head, but ends up going right through him, and when she looks around to see what had happened, she gasps and exclaims "Miss Yuka! After-images!"

The vile god smiles while his sword is going through the flower master's stomach, and though she groans, she smiles and asks "don't you know that the most beautiful of roses comes with the sharpest of thorns?"

Before the sword can even begin to fill up with the mist, several thorny vines rise from underground and coil around the boy's limbs and waist, making sure to pierce his skin and pull tight to keep him restrained.

Yuka winces and rubs the wound on her stomach, yet still looks up and casually says "and still, that sword remains on your hand. Whatever shall I have to do? Break your wrist the same way you did to Ail?"

Drake engulfs himself in bright holy fire, burns himself free from the thorny vines and prepares a fireball for the flower youkai, then the well-endowed blonde vampire shoots thin blood-red lasers to his left, making him wince a little when one touches one of his still healing holes from the thorns, then dives in for a claw attack.

The godling grabs Kurumi by one hand, absorbs his own fireball and surrounds both his arms with it, and the vampire girl screams as he grabs her other hand and now both her hands dry up and start to turn to dust.

He smiles at her and says "one less devil for this land. I'll purify you with your very own energy."

She creams out loud when the boy starts absorbing her magic by one arm, but before the filtered energy enters through the other, two Yukas appear from below, place one hand on his chest, then declare "Dual Spark!"

The vile god releases his victim to attack, but he is far too late and the twin beams of light burn his body in the most painful way Kazami can come up with; making sure he's still absorbing magic so that the overflow of power hurts him even more.

He slams to the ground on his back with a solid thud and doesn't even bounce, and writhes around as he expels the excess energy through bolts that fall on the grass and dirt below.

Yuka grabs the whimpering Kurumi, inspects her 'dead' hands, then says "go back in the house and stay there until I say otherwise."

"But I-"

Kurumi's weak defiance is met by a chop to the neck that knocks her out, then the flower youkai throws her limp body like a spinning star straight to her house, all the way across the entire flower field, and only after the body zips through the open door does the sound of crashing takes the peace away.

Meanwhile, down by the destroyed flowerbed, Reimu cries as she holds Ail's cold hand, gently runs her thumb over the back of it, then softly says "he's not coming back this time."

Even Marisa sheds a tear after this revelation, but covers her face by pulling down on the brim of her hat, and fighting her desire so cry as well she says "n-n-don't you go saying th-things like that. I-he's been through worse stuff."

As she says this, she remember when she forced him to return from the outside world, how she separated his consciousness from his body when he opened that gap to that paradise she thought would be good for Reimu, how much she suffered, and made others hurt because of that, and now even her hat is not enough to hide the tears running down her cheeks.

Sanae has stopped crying out loud, but she remains on her knees, staring at her dense boy and combing his hair when tears start flowing rapidly down her cheeks.

She slides her hand to his cheek, touches it with the back of her hand, then softly says "this was just unfair. He didn't deserve this."

"No, he didn't," says another boy from the left.

The girls turn their heads and see Damien, trying to look nonchalant, yet failing to hide a certain annoyance as he says "he deserved an honorable death dealt by **my** hand, but now it seems I've been robbed of that honor myself."

The Moriya and Hakurei maidens get on their feet with their gohei on hand and hatred aimed at the offending Makaian Lord, but he ignores them and continues "that pathetic excuse for a god took his life just like that. I... want revenge."

He looks at the girls, both red eyes revealed to them, stopping them from throttling him as he shouts "it is INSULTING that I, a great and powerful lord of darkness FAILED to kill this BOY, then this pathetic being mocking godhood comes and kills him just like that!"

He reveals his black staff, summons two of the red blade with bloody veins on them and grins as though mad while shouting "so I am going to help you humiliate him, girls! I give you my word, he **will** fall, for my name is Damien, Lord of Makai!"

The two shrine maidens and the witch stare at this boy with disbelief, but when his dark aura expands and his energy is revealed, they all gasp with surprise.

Meanwhile, above them, Yuka has Drake grunting with pain as she pushes his left-hand finger backward and kicks his stomach with her knees while crushing his right wrist.

He opens his eyes wide as though in great pain but smiles, though that smile quickly turns to a frown and he says "wait, what just happen? Where are my eye lasers?"

The flower master of Gensokyo winds her back and collides her head hard against the monster god, knocking him hard to the ground bellow.

He recovers in mid-air, flips and lands on his feet, uses them like a spring to get back to the air, and roars as he aims his sword straight at the woman's neck, shouting "I bested Yukari, I'll be DAMNED before I let you win!"

Yuka giggles, holds her stomach wound after a throb, moves sideways to avoid Drake's attack at the very last moment, then raises a spell card in the air and happily declares "Flower Sign, The Reflowering of Gensokyo!"

Large yellow seeds spread all around the flower youkai, shaping a giant eight-petal flower that grows five times Yuka's own size, and just as the godling scoffs, thinking he can break through another spell card, his entire body is wrapped by a cold chill when the woman's sinister glowing eyes and grin meet with his own eyes.

He places a magical barrier of light in front of himself and shouts "s-stand back you evil demon!", like a frightened child, and now his entire body shakes as the seed bullets get closer.

Kazami chuckles playfully, adds large yellow orbs to her spell, and as the attack gets closer to its target she sinisterly and happily says "you dare call me a demon. But I'm not the overpowered brat going around killing innocent youkai. Now, say goodbye to that paper shield of yours, and say** HELLO TO THE PAIIIIIN!**"

When the very first seed bullet touches Drake's barrier, it shatters to pieces in an instant, and the boy is immediately struck by several of those bright yellow orbs, but it's not until the seeds touch him that the pain causes him to scream.

Each and every seed burns him as they penetrate his skin and sting his very bones, then more of those bright yellow orbs explode on top of his head and stomach, and all he can do is cover his face with his forearms and scream "HOW? I HAD A BARRIER!"

He somehow manages to assimilate with the pain, though by sheer force of will, then rushes straight at the attacking woman with his sword behind him, prepared for a full-powered swing.

Yuka ducks the moment the blade is swung, punches the vile godling on the stomach, gets a knee to the face from the offender, recovers rapidly, grabs the boy's legs, swings him around, then throws him away from her flower field once more, shoots a mid-sized yellow beam, then stops.

Drake hits the ground, grunts after his head hits that solid rock nearby, but like always, he recovers quickly and takes flight.

The flower youkai sighs sadly, then says "I'm sorry, but I cannot play with you any longer. The girls want to be the ones to finish you, and after what you did, I'm not getting in their way."

The murderous god growls and moves to finish the youkai off, but stops immediately.

The glowering, sleeveless Sanae gets in his way, the furious Marisa covers his right, aiming her Hakkero at him, the smiling Damien covers his left, and the ribbon-less Reimu snarls from behind and raises her right hand.

She shows him the angel wings symbol on the back and says "you. I felt it all. How you made Rika suffer so much even my own stomach turns inside-out! How did you do it?"

The godling opens his mouth, but the shrine maiden cuts him of by a simple raise of her hand and says "no, don't tell me. I might want to kill you instead of just seal you."

The blue and white maiden growls and roar "I might FORGET sealing and go straight for the kill!"

The witch slightly lifts her head and ominously says "I'm not holding back with a monster like you."

Damien chuckles and says "you took the right to Ail's life from me. Time to answer like a man, little boy!"

The red and white's straight face can't hide the rage she feels, though as angry as she is she calmly says "you caused a lot of trouble, dared to ignore the spell card rules, MY rules, killed youkai for no reason, caused Rika a lot of pain, and killed a very dear lov- friend. It is time to answer for you crimes."

Yuka Kazami giggles sweetly as she slowly flies down to the ground while singing "have fun girls~ I'll keep Ail some company while you have fun."

Looking at the four figures around him, two of light, one of the darkness, and one of explosive power, the god's nerve begins to fail him, and for the first time in many years, he is feeling true fear.

Meanwhile, on the destroyed flowerbed, the girls have placed Ail's hand across his chest, and under them he holds Sanae's sleeves and Reimu's missing ribbon.

* * *

Sanae makes the first move and swings her gohei around, unleashing stars and pentagrams in such numbers, the black and white witch as to whistle before saying "hey, I can't let you show off on your own like that."

Marisa follows the Moriya Maiden's lead, summons two pink magical circles, two blue orbs, then shoots green stars from her hand, thin straight beams from the circles, and massive icicles from the blue orbs.

Starstriker moves his sword at blinding speeds again, blocking and cutting all the attacks he can, but he quickly begins to feel strained and drops underneath the attacks in hopes of avoiding getting hit so soon.

Unknown to him, Reimu expected the move and has shot energy-filled persuasion needles just beneath him, filling his back with painful power-sealing needles, and after he grunts, the blue and white maiden closes in and strikes his forehead with her gohei.

He uses the momentum of the impact to spin in place, forces the needles off his body, then chases after the maiden with vengeful eyes.

The witch notices this and roars "oh no you don't! Comet, Blazing Star!", her body and broom shine brightly with light, and she's rushing toward the golding at the speed of a comet.

The foolish boy is an inch away from catching Sanae's foot when Marisa tackles him hard, burns his hand, then leaves a trail of stars that burn his skin on contact.

He screams with pain but manages to keep himself in the air, summons his gauntlet with several undulated blades, then punches the air, successfully catching the witch off guard and cutting her right calf in two places.

The blue and white maiden calls for Marisa, snarls, then shouts "what kind of a man hits a lady like that? Oh, that's right, you're a MURDERER! Frog Sign, Wily Toad!"

The girl focuses for a moment, ignoring the monster god roaring as he goes after her, then four bright sparks fly from her body and violently explode into countless tiny blue frogs.

Drake groans when the frogs turn red and shape the image of Suwako glowering at him, then become a cluster tiny red bullets that zip right to him and phase through his whole body, burning everything in their path and causing so much pain to the god he falls to the ground.

He recovers quickly, stops form crashing, shakes his head, then raises both hands and starts shooting rapid laser beams and holy orbs that spread and search for a target, then shouts "you are all tainted! Gensokyo is a land of the dark demons! **I HAVE TO PURIFY THIS WHOLE WORLD!**"

The girls scream when they find themselves dodging deathly spells that still burn them, even after missing, then Reimu shouts "don't let those things touch you! And **YOU**, godling, when I get my hands on you-WHOA!"

The vile god intensifies his bullets, adding magical blades meant to destroy the flesh and bones of a dragon, then smile as he says to himself "fools, thinking they can best a god. I'll show them."

"Eh-he-he! Don't forget about me," says Damien from behind the boy in brown, who turns around with a gasp and immediately launches a sword swing.

The Makaian lord laughs as he blocks the sword with his staff, his eyes glow with intensity as he easily pushes the offending blade away, then swings his weapon again, only to get blocked by the gauntlet of light.

Said gauntlet fades away after blocking the blood-red blade of the staff, and Damien wastes no time in smashing the godling's nose with the back of the staff and shouting "Chaos Sign, Demonic Magicanon!"

He joins his wrists and spreads his palms, then a thick black and purple beam shoots from him and goes straight to the stunned boy.

The very second the Makaian's beam makes contact with the god in training, Marisa's Master Spark crashes with it, smashing the godling in between light and dark attacks, and causing him to scream out loud as the two beams both freeze and burn him.

The black and white witch angrily shouts "don't go stealing my spells!"

Damien cackles like a maniac, waves his left hand around while holding his beam with the right, and shouts out loud "MORE! GIVE IT MORE POWER! **WAHAHAHAHA!**"

From the destroyed flowerbed, Yuka, who sits besides Ail's body, sighs and smiles before happily saying "will you look at that? That scary god of murders is being murdered. How delightfully ironic."

Up on the sky, the moment the two beams stop, Drake's floppy body falls down to the ground, and after bouncing twice on the ground, the dark lord face palms and says "geez, how PATHETIC! This is embarrassing!"

He looks at the girls, scoffs, then says "he's all yours. Seriously, this weakling's too easy. I'll just watch and enjoy the show."

Reimu glowers at the dark boy, snorts, then suddenly disappears.

Starstriker groans loudly as he gets up, but falls back on his knees, his vision becomes a bit blurry, then he holds his head and thinks "_what in Heaven's name is happening to me? Something like that shouldn't have affected me this much. Maybe that dark one's power surpasses my own, or perhaps it was that witch._"

Finally recovering from the daze, he stands up, then Reimu appears behind him, glaring furiously while clenching her gohei tight, and the second he turns around to face her, she kicks him so hard she sends him spinning the air.

She disappears and appears above, throwing a dive kick and saying "you are not..."

She disappears again after sending the boy down, appears below him, bats him upward with her gohei and continues "done here with us!"

She disappears again and appears besides him, slide-kicks him in mid air and says "get BACK up there..."

She disappears after kicking him slightly upwards, appears above him, waits for him to get closer, then does a backward spin, kicks him straight up, and finishes "**AND FIGHT LIKE THE GOD YOU ARE!**"

Even Damien stares at the maiden with fright, points at her, then nervously says "remind me to never piss that girl off."

Marisa chuckles, happily says "wise. You will live long mister," then flies toward the battle once more.

Sanae is the first to reach the vile godling and whacks him on the head with her gohei, kicks him on the stomach, then, as tears start rolling down her cheeks, she furiously shouts "why did you kill him? What the hell is your problem? Gods don't kill others out of spite like that! They don't take sides! They provide HELP and GUIDANCE for those willing to accept it!"

She raises her gohei for another strike, but the monstrous god grabs her hand with his clawed gauntlet, makes her cry out in pain after sinking those claws of light into her skin, then winds his sword back and says "I'll teach you what a god can REALLY do!"

Reimu moves again, angrily grumbling "that blasted sword again," then takes a large charm from her right sleeve and heads straight toward the two gods.

Multi-colored stars explode on the vile god's face, forcing him to free the blue and white sleeveless maiden, who kicks his nose before flying away, then the witch shouts "you're not killing anyone here again pal."

He keeps his sight on the escaping girls, but before he can give chase, he finds himself unable to move.

The boy looks back and gasps when the furiously silent Hakurei Maiden places the large charm on his sword and ominously says "you and your sword! You stabbed Rika with this, caused her great harm, killed Ail with it, and now you tried killing Sanae too. I was never able to seal it as I should have, and I really regret it! Well, lesson learned. Time to seal this up."

She closes her eyes and summons more energy than she's ever summoned before, activating the charm that looks just like the magic symbol she and her friends made at the shrine to seal said sword before.

Drake grunts and roars as he attempts to pull his weapon free, and when he raises his fist at the Shrine Maiden of Paradise, he is met with her foot sinking into his stomach.

The seal succeeds, the sword becomes a harmless golden blade, and holding the severely weakened weapon on his hand, the godling screams "**NOOOOOO!** What have you done? MY SWORD!"

He raises his fist again but this time is met by a gohei to the forehead, and the face of the shrine maiden next to his, dark shadows have formed under her furious eyes, and in an angrily ominous undertone she says "you will pay for what you did to Rika and Ail."

Again, that feeling of fear takes the monster godling, and all he can do now is stare at this furious girl in the eyes while he waits for her next move.

* * *

Reimu flies back and shoots charms and amulets the god in training dodges by merely flying higher, but to his dismay, just as he's about to counter with a water spell, the amulets turn around and hit his back.

A red pentagram hits him on the head, and when he looks up, Sanae has already activated her Forgotten Ritual spell card, and the vile godling finds himself overwhelmed by the insane numbers of spinning red and expanding blue pentagrams.

Even with the red and white's bullets mixed in the spell, Drake finds a blind spot and aims to shoot a killing shot at the blue and white's neck, and smiles as he says to himself "this should level the odds in my own favor."

Damien cackles like a maniac from the right, getting the foolish god's attention, then declares "Chaos Sign, Spark of Death!"

A small purple orb on the Makaian Lord's hand grows the size of a miniature sun, he throws it at the murdering god and cackles as he shoots small purple wyvern-shaped bullets that accompany the massive dark orb.

Starstriker screams when the attacks mix right on top of him and punish him severely, then Marisa flies above everything and demands "HEY! I thought you said you didn't want to play anymore."

The dark Makaian laughs, then says "and miss out on all this fun? No way! Besides, I have a duty to lie whenever possible!"

The black and white witch chuckles, raises a spell card, then declares "Magic Sign, Stardust Reverie!"

She laughs as she slowly flies around in a circle while unleashing a shower of multi-colored stars, and just as all four attacks combine on top of the god, Drake screams "**THIS IS NOT POSSIBLEEEE!**"

The girls watch as the danmaku causes the boy to explode violently, then Reimu sighs, calms herself down, and slowly descends while holding on to a spell card.

"Aww man, that was PATHETIC! He fell again, ALREADY!", complains Damien as he begins his descent.

Sanae and Marisa share a glance, nod after silently acknowledging the Hakurei maiden's next move, then both begin a rapid descent.

Drake groans, punches the ground and roars with frustration, then looks at his left hand, summons a dim gauntlet of light with no additions to it and asks "what in blazes is going on? My power, my strength, it's leaving me! WHY?"

"Because you are wicked," begins Reimu, raising her spell card next to her face, then declares "you are not a god to Gensokyo's eyes! You are a narrow-minded human with powers too great for you! You lack FAITH! FANTASY HEAVEN!"

Seven white yin-yang orbs appear around the Hakurei Maiden, spinning fast and hard as she gathers energy while muttering a chant, and one by one, the orbs illuminate.

Drake gaps, fear replaced by terror on his face, thinks he can somehow escape, but when he looks up he notices a multi-colored net surrounds him and Reimu, then Sanae, struggling to keep focused on her Nine Syllable Stabs spell, manages to say "how can. a **FOOL** like this. ever. become a god. in the first place?"

"But I HAVE GATHERED FAITH!", argues the godling. "I have been worshiped in so many worlds for bringing them to the light; for purifying the countless demons that lived there!"

He smiles, madness becoming dominant in his face as he laughs and says "a long time ago I USED to think like you! About balance and all that bullshit! But the darkness is evil! They stabbed my back when I gave them my HAND! THEY DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE! THE EVIDENCE IS THE FAITH I HAVE GATHERED OVER THE MANY WORLDS!"

Damien cackles manically, getting Starstriker's attention, then he shakes his head, frowns as he shows disgust, then says "what good will the faith of other worlds do to you in a new world? You retarded idiot, you are supposed to gain the love of ALL wherever you are. Gain the love and faith of the people in ALL the lands you can, and you'll be the most fearsome god of ALL! But that is something an amateur like you will never understand."

"What would **YOU** know, demon?", spits Drake with rage.

The Makaian Lord raises his left hand, an image of his Makai appears above his palm, and he smiles and says "because **I** am the god and ruler of my own land! To them, those SAPS that love me and have so much faith in me, I am a **GOD**, and they'll go as far as to give their lives for me."

Reimu approaches Drake from the air behind him with her seven yin-yang orbs fully charged, and Damien snorts, growls, then says "but that's something a pathetic weakling like you will never learn. Take it away, girl."

The godling turns around, gasps, and the last thing he sees before the spell is activated, is Marisa channeling energy to the red and white girl, and said girl clapping her hands.

The seven orbs begin to fire sealing charms all around the god in training, who tries a desperate move and shoots laser beams at Hakurei, but all beams go through her without touching her.

Sanae cancels her spell and flies away when the overwhelming numbers of sealing charms continue taking over the area, trapping Drake within a thick dome of seals, then Reimu positions her gohei diagonally, places her left hand on the paper seals on it, then open her eyes and says "full seal."

The charms glow bright yellow, constrict the godling in a second, and feeling the pain of his energy being compressed inside his own body, Drake Starstriker screams "**WHYYYYYY? I WAS A GOD! HOW CAN SHE DO THIIIIIIS?**"

The spell ends, and all that is left of the god in training is now a wounded warrior shivering on the ground, curling up as his body subconsciously looks for a comfortable position that would somehow lessen his pain.

The Makaian Lord approaches the boy, grabs his hands and pulls them up, places a black energy cuffs on him, then says "you never really were a god. If you had been, you'd have been gathering faith around here from day one."

* * *

Later, just as the noon sky begins to turn gold, Drake sits quietly with his back against a tall sunflower, which has its petals aimed at his neck like a pair of daggers, while Damien watches over him, smiling viciously, though doing nothing in particular, other than staring.

The five girls, Kurumi already having grown a pair of new hands, surround Ail's body.

The three humans sob silently as they are unable to think of what to do, while the youkai and vampire stare silently, showing little signs of sadness.

Above them, Yukari opens a gap, her body fully restored, though still looking tired as she descends and asks "does it hurt?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK, YOU O-" furiously barks Sanae before Reimu grabs her mouth and with a dark tone says "Yukari, now it's really not the time."

The blonde smiles, takes a deep breath, then says "oh, you are so right. It's no time for that. You should smile. You know how he hates to see people frown."

The girls all stare at the gap youkai with raised eyebrows, then Marisa asks "what the hell are you going on about, Sukima?"

The five grounded girls all twitch, their eyes expand with surprise, then all gasp and look to Ail.

A soft groan comes from the pale and cold body, his right fingers begin to twitch, and slowly he begins to move his head and legs.

He moans as one would after waking up from a long sleep, takes a deep breath, and as he exhales, he opens his new golden eyes and looks around, then takes another deep breath and asks "Miss Yuka, Miss Reimu... Miss Marisa and Miss Kurumi? What's going-?"

His vision clears further and he sees the sleeveless Sanae, and though his body is still cold he jumps to a sitting position, but yelps and drops back on the ground, holding his chest where the sword wound is, but as pained as he is he takes another deep breath and desperately whispers "Sanae. It's Sanae."

He raises his arms to her, noticing she's just standing in place and staring dumbstruck, then lowers his arms again, smiles, and softly says "oh, that's right. I did something bad. San- er, I mean, Miss Sanae, I am sorry for hurting you so much."

The dense boy looks around until he finds Reimu, sighs, then says "ah, that's right. Miss Reimu, we have to do something about those time-twisted memories, but I'm afraid I'm a little tired right now. Haah, such a fool I was. I bet Lady Moriya is also mad at-urgh! Wha?"

Kochiya has thrown herself on her boy, crying as she holds him tight around her arms, repeating "Ail-kun, my dense idiot," and after saying that for the third time she cries "you're back! Don't do that again! Stu-stupid Ail-kun, no more dying! No more le-leaving me alone!"

At first the dense one looks confused and a bit frightened, as well as a bit in pain from the wound, but that all washes away as a smile takes his face, warmth starts returning to him, and after returning a lighter embrace he sighs and says "I'm sorry for scaring you like that again... Sanae-chan."

Suddenly he finds himself surrounded by all the girls at once, all smiling even though tears hang from their eyes, then Marisa playfully rubs his head and says "you really scared these girls, ze."

Kurumi kisses his forehead, the only part of his face she can reach without bumping with Sanae's head, and says "don't you dare make me fail my oath so close to home again, or I'll kill you a second time."

He nods with a smile before Yuka sniffles and says "Kurumi, be a dear and get me a napkin. All this excitement has lowered my defenses and activated my allergies."

Ail smiles and chuckles softly after that obvious lie and whispers "glad to see you too Miss Yuka," then he glances around at the mess of flowers and says "oh my, I'm sorry. I'll restore these flowers as best as I can."

The flower master flicks his forehead while smiling naturally, and then he notices Reimu is holding his still numb left hand, then frowns and says "Miss Reimu, I am so sorry. You must be in so much pain right now."

The red and white shrine maiden shake her head, smiles while pressing his slowly warming hand against her right cheek, then says "h-hey, who do you think I am? I am strong, so I'll be alright. I'm just so glad you aren't dead for real."

The boy smiles, nods, then thinks "_oh my, I made them cry. I feel terrible, but why am I so happy? *GASP* I'm a SADIST!_"

"_Hey, HEY! Who the hell are you?_", asks a familiar voice inside his mind.

The dense one gasps and opens his eyes wider, showing off the new golden glow in them, then asks "Mima, is that you?"

Inside his mind, the evil spirit asks "_Ail? How in heaven's name you open the link between us again?_"

Anilan laughs, smiles at the surprised girls, says "sorry girls, I'm talking with Mima through my mind," then closes his eyes and thinks "_it's a long story, but I'll explain to you later. There are some things we must do now._"

Reimu chuckles, looks at the boy's eyes, then jokingly says "well, seems you won't have another private time again."

Everyone but Sanae finds the joke laughable, and while the rest keep laughing she complains "hey, that's not funny Reimu. And Mima, if you can hear me, get OUT of his head!"

Yukari observes from a high enough distance, winks when Ail looks up at her, then immediately disappears into her gap.

Meanwhile, away from the crying and giggling bunch of girls gathering around one lucky bastard, the obviously jealous Drake clicks his tongue and says "I told them they didn't have to cry."

Damien grins mischievously and says "shut up. You thought he was dead also. You said so yourself when you claimed he was shaking hands with the gods."

The young-looking warrior shakes his head, being careful of the blade-like leaves, looks at the dark lord, then says "I noticed something strange when my sword purified him. It's like I killed half of him, leaving behind something else. Something tired, but strong. I *sigh* never seen something like that in all my long years."

The Makaian Lord chuckles, smacks the boy on the back of the head, then says "well, whatever. As long as I still get to beat, and/or kill him later, I don't care either way."

A swirling black and purple vortex opens behind him, the dark lord raises his hood, and as he enters through his portal he says "and as for you, if you wanna get out of this place, I suggest you think about what you've done, reprogram your retarded head, and start gaining some actual faith. As much as you still have collected in there, it'll do you no good to ascend."

With those words, the master and god of the alternate Makai enters his vortex and disappears from sight.

Drake chuckles, closes his eyes, then whispers "I did nothing wrong. I just lost to the darkness and must endure my punishment until I can escape."

He feels a pair of hands grasp him on each shoulder and lift him up, and after opening his eyes and seeing Reimu, who has her ribbon on again, and Marisa glare at him like he's some plague, the Hakurei Maiden says "as soon as **HE** is done fixing the flowers **you** destroyed, we are going **BACK** to the Scarlet Mansion."

The black and white one grins, squeezes his shoulder until he winces, then says "oh yeah. You have plenty of people there that want your head. Just hope they are merciful and let you keep an eye or something, da-ze."

He ignores the witch's comments and stares to where the red and white is looking at, then gasps with surprise when he sees the boy who has just revived with a pair of crystalline ethereal dragon wings kneeling on the ground and placing his hands on the dirt, and somehow managing to revive many of the sunflowers that were destroyed when he fell on them.

To his right, Yuka, that fearful green-haired woman, holds some empty flower pots and has a very endearing smile while presenting them to the one called Ail.

As he observes this he can see how the boy with the light-grey aura and the intense aura colored youkai smile at each other, as though being the friendliest of friends in all the world.

He also observes how the blue and white maiden, whom has placed her sleeves on again, glares snakes at the vampire and flower master, yet he sense no hatred or enmity between them.

Confusion hits his one-track mind again, and he finds himself unable to understand how these people think.

* * *

Moments later, Ail's gap opens up right in front of the SDM's gates, then Reimu and Marisa, who comments "doesn't looks so bad here, ze," jump out before Drake is pulled through by the red and white's red leash.

A sealing leash has been added around his neck, so even if he does manage to recover some power he won't be able to get away.

Last through are Ail and Sanae, whom keep their hands held, and don't look like they'll be letting go any time soon.

As soon as his gap closes us, the resuscitated dense boy looks around the clear road to the lake; no bodies lying everywhere, then places his hand on his healed chest as he sighs with great relief, and says "looks like everyone's alright."

The red and white snaps her fingers, the weakened godling stands in attention, then she points toward the wall to the right of the mansion and says "I hear movement from there. Let's go."

Inside the mansion, at the foyer, the usually useless fairy maids work hard and diligently to clean and repair their home, and even after their harsh experience, they all smile and giggle as they work and play, as usual.

Inside the library, Kyo and Luna help carry those maids that are still too weak to fly or are waiting for their wings to regrow, Sakuya is commanding the few maids available to pick up books, the still wounded Patchouli chants non-stop while aiming her hands at the silhouettes of Leon and Lina, and seems to be doing some progress as the ice within the frames moves, though slowly.

From the open wall, the black and white witch smiles, then flies straight inside toward the purple magician while saying "I'll go say hi to Patchouli, then take a few books as fee for my visit."

Ail and Reimu sigh and shake their heads, but generally ignore the witch, and the boy focuses his eyes as he looks around, then his girlfriend asks "what are you looking for Ail-kun?"

The boy keeps looking around while saying "Flan. This bastard shot her with a really intense orb, and I want to see if she's- THERE SHE IS!"

On the ground floor, between two large bookshelves, Flandre Scarlet seems to be talking to someone, while Tenshi and the exhausted Rika stand beside her.

The dense one's excitement suddenly escalates and he immediately calls "Flan! Miss Rika, Miss Tenshi!"

The little blond vampire's eyes illuminate and turns around to reveal she's missing her right arm, but not caring for the missing limb she takes flight toward the boy and calls "BIG-BROTHER AIL! He's alive! Onee-chan, he's alive!"

Ail ends up flying away from Sanae to take on the powerful hug tackle by himself, and after a hug and some laughs, he looks at the little girl, sighs with relief, then says "I'm so glad! I thought that devil god killed you!"

She pushes herself away from the boy, proudly punches her chest, and says "hey, I am strong! The only reason that evil god didn't break is because he was cheating!"

Rika, Suzaku and Tenshi join the little reunion, joined promptly by Sanae, then the bandaged shrine maid almost falls just because she speaks between hard breaths "brother Ail. You. are. alright!"

The celestial grabs her friend and helps her stay afloat, then says "this wound on her shoulder won't heal, and after crying so much she is drained."

Suzaku tweets to get the boy's attention and says "_though as exhausted as she is, she's been healing everyone and everything. Even Remilia has told her to stop overexerting herself._"

The blue and white maiden grasps her boy's hand as he gasps and excitedly exclaims "Lady Remilia is ALIVE? That is great news!"

Rika suddenly begins to growl and weakly flaps her small wings, points behind her dense big brother, then furiously asks "what is **he** doing here? What does that murderer **WANT?**"

Reimu turns her head and shoots a very dirty look at the godling, who obviously doesn't acknowledge his wrongdoing, evident by the uncaring look on his face, then pulls on his leash and says "come. We are going inside!"

"Wait, I can't fly thanks to you!" complains the boy.

The shrine maiden's eyes turn bloodthirsty vicious as she gazes at the boy, sending sharp cold chills down his spine, and cynically says "what a crying shame. Then hold on to the leash so you don't choke while I go greet my maid!"

Not caring whether the boy is ready or not, she takes flight and drags him along, not caring that he's hanging by his neck below her and coughing as he chokes, unable to use his darkness-cuffed hands to grip the leash.

The shrine's maid somehow summons energy to herself, turns it to a bolt of lightning, then throws it at the chocking boy's head and shouts "you should be **GRATEFUL** my lady is carrying you around like a-hau."

Her burst of energy soon becomes a surge of exhaustion, but before she falls Tenshi grabs her again and says "jeez, and it took me so long to calm her down too."

Remilia's winged head and miniature, fingerless new body flies with some effort toward the commotion and demands "what's the meaning of this!", then looks at the dense boy and happily sings, "Ail, you deliciously delectable creature, thank you for helping my little sister! Say, can I have some of your blood? I'm almost full so it's just a bit to accelerate my recovery."

The boy sighs, and before Reimu approaches Rika, he pulls Sanae close, gives her a quick kiss on the lips, then says "got a bit of a job here Sanae-chan."

She smiles and releases his hand, then says "don't go leaving me behind if you need to go somewhere else, ok?"

The dense one just smiles and nods, closes his eyes, activates his Yozoragan limit, then turns around and immediately grabs Rika's hand and places it on his left wing.

Healing energy courses right into her body, and while she begins to recover her strength, Remilia and Flandre swoon, their eyes become pink hearts, and sigh at the sight of the winged boy, each take a side of him, then bite his shoulders and take a quick sip of blood before stopping and resting their heads on him.

Surprisingly enough, Anilan winces a bit, but acts as if nothing is happening to him.

The Moriya Maiden roars and complains to the vampire sisters, but they ignore her and continue licking off the blood from the holes on his shoulders, then stop, Flandre instantly grows a new right arm, and Remilia's wings crawl down to her back as her new body grows a little more.

A bandaged Sakuya flies swiftly to her mistress and covers her with a sheet before anything is seen, then the blue-haired vampire smacks her lips as she smiles and says "damn that blood is so good! And he's so dreamy!"

The elegant maid chuckles nervously and simply replies "y-yes my lady, I am glad you enjoyed," then gasps when Anilan's right wing touches her arm.

She stares at the boy and smiles, then retreats herself from his reach and says "thank you very much. I feel as good as new now."

After bowing his head to the chief maid, Ail removes Rika's hand from his wing and says "and she should be alright now."

The shrine's maid opens her eyes, looking refreshed and fully energized, the wound on her shoulder is gone and so is the pain from it, and she immediately hugs the dense boy tight and repeats "thank you so much," to which the boy pats her head and says "it's alright little sister."

"Hey, Ail!", calls Kyo from the second floor balcony, then waves at his friend as though asking for assistance.

Anilan nods, gently pushes Rika away, rubs Flandre's head to his right, and says "I want to check on everyone else, so please excuse me. Miss Tenshi, Miss Suzaku, I know she feels better, but keep an eye on Miss Rika please."

The celestial takes her friend's side and says "you don't need to tell me twice! I'll keep her safe," then the vermilion bird hovers above her master and says "_we'll take care of things over here._"

The dense boy smiles and nods, extends his hand to the Moriya maiden, and as soon as she takes it, they take flight toward the balcony.

Reimu lazily flies after them, then suddenly notices the tug on her leash, looks down, then nonchalantly says "whoops, I forgot I had **that** there."

Drake dangles semi-conscious and blue-faced by the neck, somehow holding the leash with his cuffed hands while rubbing the bolt wound on his forehead with his forearm.

Rika only glowers at the boy and is tempted to attack again, but she suddenly hears Koakuma cry out, then shakes her head and says "take me to Koa please. She needs me."

Anilan and Sanae land on the second floor balcony and are immediately greeted by Kyo, who gives his friend a light hug while saying "I'm sorry I couldn't come help you dude."

He pushes his friend away and says "when I heard you scream like that I thought you were dead. I got up after that and went to look for you, but I guessed you were alright when I didn't find you there."

The dense boy sighs, looks away to hide his sad look, and says "no, I wasn't alright at all. I managed to trick him into following me inside my gap, before he..."

The mentioned godling crashes on the floor to the left, rolls toward the bookshelves and smashes against them with force.

Reimu lands after the crash, chuckles, then taunts "and I thought you said you were ready to land."

That's when the blue and white maiden points at the fallen god and furiously says "that's when that **BASTARD** broke Ail-kun's back and **MURDERED **him!"

The muscular boy gasps but quickly looks estranged, but before he, his friend, or anyone else has the chance to say anything, Rika Onkamikami roars "**WHAAAAAAT?**" then rushes all the way from the other side of the balcony and kicks Drake like a football, slamming him a second time against the bookshelves, and shouts "**how many more lives were you willing to take? How much more suffering were you planning on placing in all our hearts?**"

The dense boy grabs the girl by the shoulders before she kicks the groaning fallen godling again and softly says "it's alright, I'm alright already. The wounds have healed quickly."

The maid turns around, grabs the boy by the shoulders, inspects the cut on the chest of his shirt, then growls and says "that bastard. It' just like he did to... to-" then starts to cry when she says "Kali!"

Her wings expand involuntarily as her body convulses with every sob, then she softly cries "I couldn't save her. She tried to save me and I couldn't even help."

The red and white maiden grabs the maid by the shoulders, pulls her close and lightly embraces her, then walks over to the other side of the balcony, pulling on the knocked-out bound boy and softly saying "I'm sorry for your loss Rika, but you have to let go of those things, or they will consume you. Besides, you still have friends who need you, so come."

Kyo sighs as the girls and choking dog-boy leave the area, shakes his head, then says "goddamn that bastard. Man, seeing that girl so shaken, it's so unfair."

Sanae tugs her boyfriend's hand as she looks down and says "it's really depressing."

Luna Rivers suddenly falls on her man's arms, causing him to grunt after the wound on his back acts up, then whines "Kyo, I can't go on. My legs are starting to feel like jelly again."

The couple find themselves wrapped by the pair of crystalline ethereal dragon wings and quickly feel their bodies recovering, then Ail says "Kyo my friend, that wound on your back. How can you even stand?"

After the healing is done and the wings retreat, the muscular boy rummages his pocket and pulls Tewi's necklace out of it, then says "a little luck saved me, my friend. Now..."

He pockets the necklace again, then points at Medicine hidden between a small set of bookshelves on a corner, sitting against the wall's shelves with a dazed look on her face.

Kyo sighs, but Luna beats him to the explanation and says "that Drake fellow threw a tree at me and her, and she somehow took the hit for me. She hasn't been able to stand since. Please help her!"

Anilan sighs, walks over to the poisonous youkai, and being careful not to touch her with his own hands, he stretches his right wing so that its tip touches her arm.

She moans as the healing energy courses through her body, her head rolls around her shoulders, then she babbles for a moment before saying "ooooh-ho awesome! Man, thanks Ail! I swear, I thought I was seeing trees flying over my head this whole time."

The boy chuckles, smiles at the poison girl, then says "well, you did get hit by one, you know. Anyway..."

He stands up, takes Sanae's hand once again, then looks at Patchouli struggling with her own spell, notices the black bruise on her forehead and the bandaged cut on her chest and stomach, then says "seems I'm still needed. Please don't overexert yourself Miss Medicine."

He turns his neck to look at his girlfriend and says "let's go help Miss Patchouli now."

They approach the magician, remaining silent so as not to disturb her, then the dragon boy stretches both wings and fills her with energy as he heals her.

Patchouli slightly opens her right eye, smiles, then raises her voice, thus strengthening her chant.

Her wounds begin to heal at a rapid pace, and at the same time, the ice inside the Kori Twins' frames begins to spiral as violently as a snowstorm.

She whimpers when the energy consumption becomes taxing, even with the boy's help, but she persists, and smiles when she begins to see form inside those frames.

The twins recover their bodies in a blinding flash of light, stretch them as they yawn, acting as though just waking up from a long sleep, and when they hear a light thud and look to the source, both gasp at the sight of Patchouli sitting on the ground and Leon calls "my love! Hold on, I'll save you!"

As soon as the light-blue haired twins get close, the magician stretches her arms, wraps them around the twins' necks, then happily says "thank you Ail! It would have taken me days to bring them back on my own, as I was."

"Lady Patchouli, you're crushing me," cries Lina, while her brother, who has his face stuck on the purple magician's chest drools and happily says "oh, I don't feel it. Please hold me tighter."

Ail and Sanae laugh at the sight, then the dense boy bows his head and says "it was my pleasure, Miss Patchouli."

The purple-haired girl smiles as she looks up at the boy with those seemingly uncaring eyes, then says "please, call me Patchy," to which Sanae jolts up, grabs her boy's arm, and places her cheek on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the balcony, Rika approaches Meiling, whom keeps picking up stacks of books on her own, even with the bleeding bandages around her stomach, and keeps placing them where they belong.

The shrine's maid touches the gate guard's shoulder, and the second she turns around the angelic girl places her hand on the dragon youkai's wound and begins to heal it with a mint-green energy.

Hong drops the books and sighs after looking into the teary eyes of the maid, places her hand on the maid's head and softly says "thank you, but that wasn't needed."

Rika shakes her head and cries "no. You were hurt! I can't let you risk yourself like that."

The dragon youkai grabs Rika's head, gently pulls her closer, gives her a kiss on the forehead, then says "such a sweet and strong girl, soft as a feather and strong as steel. Stop blaming yourself so much or you'll crumble to pieces."

The shrine maid sighs out loud after finishing the healing, then Meiling grabs her shoulders, turns her around, and says "besides, she needs you now. What will she think if she sees you like that?"

Koakuma sits by her lonesome self, looking sadly at her feet while holding her bandaged left head wing so it doesn't break off again.

Rika approaches the little devil, sits beside her, and though she smiles, she can't hide the pain she feels as she asks "what's wrong my little sister?"

The little devil lowers her head, feeling ashamed for having caused her Rika onee-chan that shoulder wound, thus assisting in Kali's death, though indirectly.

The angelic maid places her hand on her little sister's head and begins to heal the wing, but the red-haired girl pushes her hand away and snaps "no! I don't deserve it!"

She aims to run away, but big angel sister grabs her arm, turns her around, then stares straight into her eyes.

Both can see how hurt each other is, but Rika knows the reason the little devil is hurting and promptly says "this was **NOT** your fault Koa-chan! This was all that stupid boy's fault!"

"If I wasn't so weak, you would have never gotten hurt, and he would have never killed your friend!", snaps the little devil, whom gets a warm hug and ends up blushing beet red and flapping her head wings.

She realizes her left head wing is already cured completely, then says "why? The only thing summoning you here did was hurt you! I should have just done something from the start instead of waiting to involve you!"

The angel-winged maid grabs the little devil by the cheeks, gives her a kiss on the forehead, then one on the tip of the nose, then suddenly holds the girl in a tight embrace and says "you are my little sister, and I will fight anything that threatens you, no matter what."

She pushes the stunned redhead away so they can look in the eyes, then says "today I failed protecting someone special, but at least I managed to save you. I was too weak *sob* and had to use my body to save you, and ended up worrying you like that. But I promise you, I will train harder, so that the next time you need me I can protect both you and me from a whole army of idiots!"

Unknown to the still stunned Koakuma, the two points where the maid kissed her connect via an unseen magic and suddenly feels the as though she is somehow connected with Rika, and for the first time in ages feels like she truly has a sister, even though they aren't related by blood.

"That's pretty beautiful magic," comments Ail, who stands besides the girls.

The little devil blushes and looks away, then the boy pats her on the head and says "I need to borrow Rika for a bit. You don't mind, right?"

Sitting on the edge of one of the smaller third-floor balconies, Kimi stares at everyone below while Reimu, who stands behind her, sighs and says "I'm serious. You need to have that looked at. That holy energy is killing you, and this bastard's sword was pretty dangerous, so let's treat that wound."

Drake raises his dark-cuffed hands to get the girl's attention and says "I'm right here shrine maiden."

The red and white girl glances over her shoulder, then shrugs and says "hmm, good. Maybe the message will sink in."

Ail and Rika land to the shadow dragon's right, then the angelic maid immediately glowers at the vile godling and says "he should be chained tighter! My lady, you are too sweet and forgiving."

The dragon-winged boy holds the maid by the shoulders and turns her attention to the shadow dragon girl, then says "please, help us convince Miss Kimi so that she may allow us to heal her. That wound on her waist keeps bleeding and the energy coursing in her is killing her, but she won't let us help her."

"What?", yelps the angelic girl, who immediately steps closer to the shadow girl and says "p-please, Miss Kimi, d-don't let yourself go like this! Let us heal you!"

Reimu steps closer, then says "Kimi, please, don't be so darn stubborn. I know her sudden departure pains you, but letting yourself get destroyed won't accomplish anything."

The shadow dragon remains looking down at a specific point, then says "and who says I'm pained by this? He just returned her to the shadows, where I will one day have to return to as well. I'm just allowing myself to get there sooner than later. I'm sick and tired of this world anyway."

The dense boy and shrine maiden both groan in frustration, but the shrine maid simply looks to where the shadow girl is looking to and gasps when she sees the black spot left by Kali's body on the balcony below.

A tear escapes her right eye, then she sits beside the dragon and softly sadly says "I am sorry. This is all my fault. I was too weak to protect her. *Sigh* Even after she accepted me as her friend."

The angelic girl begins to cry again, then Kimi smirks, a soft chuckle escapes her, then she says "you cry for a shadow like it was a living being that's just lost its life. You truly are an interesting girl."

Rika sniffles, then asks "wh-what's wrong with that? She was alive, and so are you!"

The dragon girl turns her head to face the maid, but before she speaks, the sweet girl loudly says "I don't believe what you may think of yourself! You HAVE a soul, or else you'd be a zombie, walking around aimlessly and moaning while looking for food out of instinct!"

Sanae flies up to meet with Ail, just as Kimi Hong smiles, looks around at the allies present, then says "Rika Onkamikami, you are just like your mistress there. Fools with hearts of gold, willing to accept abominations like myself as allies."

She looks at the dragon-winged Ail and Sanae, then says "and you are a sexy, nosy boy who simply hates seeing others die, whether they are friend or enemy. Tch, fine, I get it. Get this holy energy out of me."

Rika's reaction is to grab the girl in a tight hug and sigh with relief, while Reimu takes a yellow-colored charm out of her sleeve and places it on the shadow's hat, and Ail walks closer and kneels down so that his left wing touches Kimi's back.

The shadow dragon feels a tingly sensation on her whole body as the three heal her, and though trying hard to hide it, she ends up smiling naturally, making herself look sweet; a rare sight.

Down below, the bandaged Sakuya holds her mistress in a sheet, protecting her weakened body while it keeps growing at a rapid pace, Flandre flies around, giggling with excitement after her whole family returns to her, Patchouli and Koakuma each hold their respective Kori while Meiling hops around, displaying amazing mastery of her martial arts as she throws, flips, kicks, and neatly places books back on their shelves, at the very same time she fights Marisa to save the books she's just returned to those selves.

Tenshi and Suzaku finally find Rika on the third floor, scolder her for taking off without telling them, then she suddenly drops on them to give each a tight hug.

* * *

Later, at the Hakurei Shrine, as the sky begins to get dark gold, Mima holds Ail and squeezes him like she would a child while saying "I'm so glad to have the real you back! I missed you!"

Suika pats his back while cheering and saying "that was some story! You should drink sake with me to celebrate!"

The grunting boy's face turns blue, and yet he still smiles and says "glad to be back, I guess. Mima, you are killing me. Urk! Miss Suika, I'm weak against sake!"

Sanae pulls him free from the youkai and threaten the cheerful girls with her gohei, while Aya and Hatate compete to see who can take the most pictures.

Reimu has pretty much given up on trying to kick the tengu out, so she sits on the veranda with Marisa and Suzaku by her side, and while the two humans drink tea and eat snacks, the bird relaxes while staring straight forward.

Drake has been tied up like a dog to the tree in front of the shrine, and there he sulks, his sagging hands still bound by those dark-magic cuffs, and he stares at them, wondering how he lost so much power, thus losing the battle against the darkness.

His body trembles as his anger rises, questioning how he lost a battle against a single youkai that is just as powerful as Yukari, or maybe slightly less powerful, then got beat up by three humans and a dark lord from some hell.

He opens his hands to look at them, stare at them with fury, then asks himself "_how, with all that faith and worshipers I had gathered, did my powers **fail** me so miserably._"

He rises to his feet and swings his bound arms in the air once, then shouts "HOW! HOW IN THE WORLD DID THE LIGHT LOSE TO THE DARKNESS?"

He aims his sight toward the shrine and shouts "and how can this shrine maiden, so pure and bright, allow tengu, evil spirits, horned demons, AND STILL BE SO BRIGHT-BOOF!"

The people at the shrine stare at the boy, surprised by the sudden outburst, though more surprised at what has happened after the godling screams like a lunatic.

A basket holding vegetables and a bowl of dry rice spills on the ground to the left of the vile boy, while Rika holds a solid fist on his stomach.

Even as he groans and falls down she glowers at him with rage evident in her usually peaceful eyes, her wings stretch and her feather frizzle like the hair of a rabid animal, and after the boy falls she says "after everything you've seen, after all you had to watch us undo for **your** mistakes, you still dare question your failure?"

Drake smiles, looks up at the girls, and speaking between breaths he says "how brave. of you. to strike a bound. man."

Rika furiously grips his neck, lifts him up with a single hand, slams his back against the tree, and speaking between strikes to his face with her free hand, she says "how **brave**. of you. to kill. a defenseless. girl!"

Reimu grips Rika under her arms and pulls her away from the boy while shouting "no, Rika! He's not worth it! Calm down!"

The maid tries to kick the boy on the face and shouts "**you killed an innocent!** All because she wasn't wearing your colors! You stupid **moron**, you are NO GOD!"

The shrine grows quiet as even Suika felt an intense surge coming from the shrine maid's words, then, in complete disbelief, Starstriker chuckles and asks "what did you say? But I am-"

"You are a single-minded moron!", furiously interrupts the girl, her wings losing some feathers after her raging outburst, and sounding slightly more calmly, she continues "if you were a god you'd be able to see past one eyeball! You would be able to tell there is good in **everything**, not just your stupid, idealistic world of light only!"

Rika's face turns red, her rage evident in her eyes, yet she still sounds a bit more calm as she resumes "who knows how many more innocents you killed before poor Kali, who was just trying to protect me from you! **ME**, whom you **CLAIM** was a goddess the first day we met."

She surprises all her friends in the shrine when she starts speaking in a mocking tone "but, oh, you see me trying to protect my little sister from you, and suddenly I'm a **tainted goddess!** Then my new friend tries to save me and you use my own blood and kill her, right before my eyes!"

Her tears start flowing after her last sentence, but even chocking on her sobs she continues "this is why you won't ascend! Thi-*gulp* this is why you cannot see your loved one! You are thinking like a **HUMAN!** And not just any human, but one of those foolish priests and religious fanatics who think life is all a straight line! **IT IS NOT!**"

She points at his pouting face and says "and I **KNOW** what your single-tracked brain is thinking! Well look around you this instant and DARE tell me I am being tainted by your precious darkness!"

Drake growls, looks up with defiance at the shrine maid, then angrily says "say what you want. You haven't seen what **I **have. So many times I gave those dark bastards a chance, and all they did was **STAB ME ON THE BACK, KILL, PILLAGE, RAPE, MURDER!**"

He gets back up on his feet with some effort to look directly at Rika, then angrily says "so many good people who believed in me, trusted me with their lives, died because I gave those dark ones a chance! I always ended up killing entire cities because of that, and gained the faith of many! But the pain of all those lost..."

Tears start rolling down his eyes as he shouts "**you think I don't know what you feel, but I do! I too have failed many times and swore I would never fail again!**"

His tears dry up, a scarlet aura rises from his stomach to his head, and in an ominous tone of voice he says "and so I learned that to be a god, I had to illuminate the entire universe! I was doing JUST FINE until I came here, to this darkness-infested land!"

Reimu grabs Rika again and shouts "wait, don't do it! Rika, you're better than this," before said maid throttles the boy yet again with her dark sword.

The maid stops her rampage attempt and gets released, breathes to slowly calm herself down, then she looks at the godling in the eyes and says "you failed because you were **weak**. Yeah, you heard me! You were just **WEAK!** You had many chances to grow stronger, but you hid behind your pain and used it as an **EXCUSE** to become a mass murderer!"

She stomps her foot on the ground, ignoring the sudden broken look on the boy's face, then furiously says "you say you are a god! Well I deny you! I **DENY YOU** with every fiber of my being;** WITH ALL MY HEART**. So weak and foolish! I deny you, I deny you, I deny EVERYTHING about you!"

Those words stab the godling in the heart like red-hot knives and slowly he feels himself weakening further.

His vision becomes blurred, his skin becomes pale, he falls to his knees after his own breath fails and he feels as though he is dying.

Nobody has ever denied his godhood with such intensity, and now he begins to understand he has made a mistake, though is unable to understand why.

He gasps for air as soon as his lungs begin to work again, his eyes lose the glimmer they had, but he can feel in his heart he still possesses some divinity, however he now feels doubt creeping into his heart and mind, and so he just curls up into a ball on the ground and sinks into the despair he thought he had locked away ages ago.

The shrine maid suddenly rushes toward him and places the hilt of her dark sword on his forehead, and he gasps as though breathing for the first time.

Images of a blonde girl, who looks just like the one called Koakuma, appear before him, laughing and enjoying life.

The girl and Rika act like sisters, keeping each other company, comforting each other in times of need, and just like that, the little girl disappears in a blast of blood.

Tears roll down the godling's eyes while the crying maid pulls her sword away and softly says "live on with the memory of my little sister, who was brutally taken away from me; unfairly, unjust! **FEEL THE PAIN I FELT AFTER SHE WAS GONE!**"

A heartfelt sob escapes the boy for the first time, then the shrine's maid sheathes her sword, and walks away.

Rika relaxes, her softening wings become a good indication of this, then she picks up her basket and the scattered items, then bows to her mistress and says "I am sorry for that my Lady Reimu. I will begin dinner's preparation now."

Tenshi walks out of the shrine, takes the basket away from her friend, then says "you have done enough. Rika, please go and rest now!"

Before the maid complains, Reimu places a hand on her shoulder and squeezes her gently, then says "do as she says. You need to rest after so many ordeals and trials."

The shrine maid sighs, holds her head when her exhaustion catches up to her yet again, then nods and says "I will make it up to you for this my lady."

* * *

Meanwhile, at Eintei, Kyo, Luna and Medicine with Su-San flying around her shoulders, enter the mansion, led by two youkai rabbits, whom offer some questionably colored tea on the short table at the foyer once the guests sit around it.

The three reject the offer, Luna saying "no, no, we're alright. We'll just wait here."

The two rabbits bow their little heads, then hop out of the room, playing with each other as they enter the corridor to the rooms.

The very moment they are alone, the poisonous youkai girl points to the door outside and says "it's that mischievous rabbit. She's staring at us."

Tewi reveals herself from the left side of the door, her red eyes glowing with intensity as she says "the news ran fast. Heard you couldn't bring that murderer down on your own."

Kyo sighs, offers the necklace back to its master, and says "I am sorry, but I-" the girls clear their throats, then the boy repairs his speech "we failed your request. We have no excuse. Drake Starstriker defeated us all with ease."

Medicine pouts and crosses her arms over her chest while angrily saying "we could have, but he was cheating with that godly recovery of his."

The rabbit youkai accepts her carrot necklace back and stares at it for a bit, then sighs and says "I see. And if it wasn't for this you'd all be dead, or worse. I do appreciated what you tried to do."

"So do I," says an energetic voice from the corridor.

Kaguya walks after the rabbits into the living room and foyer with a light smile on her face, elegantly bows her head, then says "the request was a little selfish from my part. I mean, I knew what you were up against and still asked you to deal with him in our name."

Kyo grins, shakes his head, then says "like I said before, we had our own reasons for accepting. Still, I believe we can bring him to you, and you too Tewi, so that you may have a chance to chew him out."

The princess' and mischievous rabbit's eyes illuminate, the Lunarian smiles while showing interest and says "oh, that sounds like an interesting idea. You bring him here, and we can all have a nice long chat."

While Kaguya takes a seat, Tewi turns away from everyone while thinking "that bastard? Here? I could avenge Zhinka and Kara!"

The black rabbit of Eintei quickly joins them at the table and quickly asks "how soon can you bring him here?"

Luna detects something in the rabbit's voice, but ignores it, shrugs, then says "right now he's at the Hakurei Shrine, his powers are sealed, and having one hell of a hard time, I think."

Medicine chuckles, then says "that is if that maid hasn't killed him yet. I mean, did you see the way she **LOOKED** at him? Man, talk about dirty-"

Kyo holds the youkai's mouth shut, looks at Kaguya and Tewi, then says "he has a lot to answer for, so it will be up to Reimu and Ail. Those two have some unfinished business though, so I am not really sure when can we bring him."

The Moon princess giggles, takes a cookie from the plate on the table, then says "well then, I'll let Eirin know you may be bringing that so-called god around here at any time, tell the rabbits not to attack you guys as long as he's restrained, and maybe get some food ready for a feast in honor of his defeat."

The trio and black rabbit stare at the happy giggling princess in disbelief, then the poisonous doll looks at Su-San and asks "so, she's going to celebrate his defeat right in his face?"

Kaguya nods, then Medicine pumps her fist in the air along with Su-san and exclaims "SWEET! I'll ask that tengu to come and take pictures of his face!"

Ignoring the silly girls, Luna looks around the room, then looks outside before turning back to face the Lunarian and asks "speaking of Eirin, I haven't seen her or Udonge since we arrive. Where are they?"

Kyo looks at his woman and adds "maybe they're on strike?"

The moon girl giggles while covering her mouth with her sleeve, actually hiding the crumbs she's just spat, and says "oh-ho-ho! Oh, they're just in her new dungeon. Something about a night sparrow getting in Eirin's drawers."

She looks at Tewi, whom stares flatly at nowhere in particular while munching on a cookie, and continues "I didn't really understand, but Yorihime was really upset, and then Toyohime got captured, then she blamed Inaba, and, well, it's really confusing."

Inside Eirin's underground torture chamber, Mystia cries and shivers violently, strapped to a diagonally positioned metal table, and though she tries hard to escape, the bindings on her limbs and waist restrain her perfectly.

The mad Lunarian doctor smiles as she stares at her trapped little bird with insane eyes, raises a syringe with a rainbow colored substance inside, and sweetly says "don't worry. After I inject you with this, your songs will change forever."

The poor night sparrow whimpers as she cries, then somehow manages to say "chiiiiiiiin! I swear, I-I wasn't making fun of your panties! It's just that I sing when I see something shiny!"

Eirin laughs sinisterly, then gently caresses the bird's chin with her hand and sweetly says "oh, I'm sorry, but now is not the time for excuses. Now is the time for _punishmeeeent~_"

From the last metal table to the right, which is set vertically with a tazer shooting electric sparks on top of it, Reisen says "c-c-c-come on m-m-master. G-g-give her a b-b-b-brake."

On the middle metal table, which is set vertically, Toyohime cries "aww, come on, I haven't even done anything bad this time! Just let me go!"

The silver-haired woman ignores the cries of the other two girls and approaches the crying night sparrow, then a silver washtub falls on her head, knocking her out in the act.

Yorihime stands behind the fallen pharmacist with the bent washtub on her right hand, then she elegantly places her left hand on her waist, smiles to the bird girl and says "like I'd let her harm you."

Mystia gasps as she smiles, and though her tears won't stop as she exclaims "YORIHIME-CHAN! You came to save me!"

The purple-haired Lunarian nods, drops the washtub, then quickly undoes the binding on Lorelei's waist, wrists and ankles.

She picks the frightened night sparrow princess style, lets the happy little bird cling around her neck, then turns around.

"Finally. Help me out of here sis, I need to-" begins Toyohime with a smile that turns to a frown very fast when she realizes her younger sister just walked past her, then loudly says "hey wait! Yorihime, you can't leave us here!"

The shocked Reisen tries to complain, but the electric shocks have left her tongue so numb, she can only blabber incoherently.

Regardless of the girls complaints, the younger Watatsuki continues her way up the steps with Mystia on hand, smiling wide at the rescued youkai girl.

The door to the evil room shuts behind the would-be savior, then Toyohime sighs and says "this is because my breasts are naturally bigger than hers, I just know it."

The poor moon rabbit blabbers on and laughs when she starts seeing the room spinning in two different directions at once.

* * *

Later that night, at the Hakurei Shrine, the smashed Marisa sleeps in a futon in the living room with Mima hovering above her as though watching her dreams, and Suzaku rests on her perch, facing Rika's room with a pained look.

Suika sits on the roof with one sad-looking Tenshi by her side, and though the little oni tries cheering the celestial up it appears she's failing as the blue-haired girl keeps sighing while looking at the crescent moon in the sky.

The little horned girl smacks the celestial on the back, getting a disappointing weak reaction, then says "Rika will be alright. She got all of that out of her chest after all."

Tenshi smiles weakly, sighs softly, then says "yeah, you're right. Hmm, I bet that must have felt good for her."

At the veranda at the back of the shrine, Ail, Sanae and Reimu enjoy a quiet evening of tea and snacks, both red and white, and golden-eyed boy drinking in the same manner, looking lazy while sighing after the drink.

The blue and white shrine maiden glances at her boyfriend, then at her maiden friend, then a drop of sweat rolls down the side of her head as she says "you two really do look like family right now."

Both make the same expression of confusion while glancing at the girl between them, then the girl on the spot sighs, fans her hand and says "never mind. Just thinking out loud."

Ail chuckles as he shakes his head, then asks "now that Sanae has brought it up. Reimu, how are you feeling?"

The Hakurei Maiden bends her back forward as she lets escape a chuckle upon noticing Kochiya's flat gaze, then composes herself and softly says "that accursed feeling is still there, though not as strongly as it was before."

A tear rolls down her cheek and into her tea, yet she smiles as she says "I still see those fake memories as well. I want them gone, but they keep repeating themselves inside my mind."

Sanae slowly reaches for her man's arm, thinking the red and white will pounce at any time, but is surprised when said girl just looks at them in the eyes with her own pained gaze and says "this is like going through torture, and it just won't stop. Ail, how do **you** feel."

The boy sighs, a sense of guilt creeping into his heart, then says "ever since I woke up is has been as though I am a new, yet old me. My feelings aren't affecting me as much, and the memories are gone."

He looks into his tea mug, closes his eyes, then says "but that doesn't change the fact that I am hurt for what I did to you, and what I'm still causing. You don't deserve this shit."

There is a short pause between the three, uncomfortable and awkward, then Ail raises his sigh to Reimu's and says "I'll be leaving now. Best we don't push what luck has kept you calm."

The red and white giggles, then Sanae angrily asks "hey, what's so funny about all this? Don't treat this like a joke."

Reimu shakes her head and says "it's not that. It's just that Ail is acting so different, but at the same time this new but familiar behavior of his seems adequate. Even his old sharpness has returned."

"Sharp but dense, an incredibly odd combination, just like he was when he first came here," says Mima from behind as she hovers toward them with a tiny cup of sake on her hand.

She plants her ghostly tail beside Ail, wraps an arm around his shoulders, and smiles as she says "even our old mental connection is back. To say the truth, I was a bit skeptical about the whole 'let him get killed' thing, but it has obviously worked out quite well."

Both shrine maidens rise to their feet with fire around their eyes and bodies, gohei on hand and ready to draw out blood from the evil spirit before them while Reimu asks "**you knew about this?**"

Sanae's eyes become monstrous and ominous as she gets closer to her victim, and asks "**and you didn't even try to save him?**"

Ail takes the last sip of tea from his mug, stares at nothing in particular, then casually says "let the spirit talk. I would also like to know what happened to me back there. Speaking honestly, I should be completely dead, for real."

The armpit girls calm down and the green-haired woman bows her head to the boy and says "thanks," then clears her throat and begins "you see girls, when this boy's moron self went and did what he did with Sariel, he altered a lot of things, including the severing of the link between him and that possessive evil spirit who just loved messing with him, and so we had two Ails living inside one body."

She takes the gulp from her sake cup and continues "Yukari thought using that gap mixed with ice could help, but then the gods told us about Drake, the good he would unknowingly do by trying to kill our dear boy, and so we decided to listen to them, for a change."

Reimu snaps her fingers and smile after having caught on, then says "ohh, so when that murderous idiot killed Ail, he actually killed the tainted half and left his true self inside, intact and ready to take its body back."

Mima smiles gleefully and exclaims "bingooo~ That's my bright little shrine maiden!"

Sanae clings on her boy, pressing her assets against his shoulder while rubbing her cheek against his and angrily says "that was still a big risk there! That stupid bastard left him paralyzed before killing my Ail-kun! What if he had stayed like a vegetable his whole life?"

The boy in the spot-light smiles though sweats as he says "um, th-thankfully I have youkai blood in me."

He then opens his eyes and points toward the left of the shrine with his thumb and asks "and what are we going to do about him?"

Drake Starstriker is still bound to that tree and kneels in front of it with a miserable looks about him.

His head hangs low, his hair looks dark and unkempt as it is pulled down by gravity, giving him a ghastly look, and all he does is breathe as he keeps knelt as low as possible, probably to not attract any more attention to himself.

The group stares at the pathetic sight before them, then the dense one says "we can't keep him here. His presence alone affects Rika greatly, and he still has to answer for all his wrongdoings."

"Yeah, I'm with Ail-kun on this one," begins Sanae, who refuses to let go of her man while she continues "I never thought I'd see that sweet girl so angry and so hurt."

Reimu lifts her hand to show them the angel wings mark on the back of her hand and says "believe it. His murdering that shadow hurt her more deeply than that sword wound on her left shoulder. Even now, as she tries to sleep, the pain left in her heart is keeping something very painful flashing right before her eyes without pause."

The maiden sighs, punches the wooden beam to her side, then finishes "and right after she recovered from that depression."

"I'll take him to my house," says the dense boy, diverting the maiden's thoughts away from her pained maid, then continues "I already said I'm taking him around Gensokyo to try and teach him of our ways. An asshole he may be, but I still want to help him."

He notices the estranged looks on the girls, shrugs, then says "I'm not really doing it **for** him. I just want to make sure he doesn't go ape-shit retard anywhere else. And besides, it doesn't look like he'll be leaving Gensokyo any time soon."

Mima flies around Ail's head, forcing him on to his feet while singing "Aiiilll~ Remember you still have business with Reimuuu~"

The boy nods and a serious expression takes his face as he says "I know. That's why I need to contact Yukari tonight. Tomorrow, Kyo will take Drake to Eintei and Myouren, while I deal with Reimu and those memories."

"And you won't be going without me," says Sanae as she grabs his hand, making him giggle and give her a surprise kiss on the cheek.

As the Moriya Maiden's face turns red, Reimu suppresses her desire to sigh with frustration and says "alright. I'll give you some seals in case he tries anything funny while at your house. Give some to Kyo as well."

Mima chuckles, twirls once in the air, then says "well, seems tomorrow will be another busy day. I can't wait."

The dense boy turns to face the godling, then loudly says "I know you heard all of that. So what do you say Drake?"

The bound god raises his head, revealing a ghostly pale face, scowls, then says "like I have a choice. Don't worry about me, I no longer care. This land is beyond salvation anyway."

The dark cuffs holding his hands disappear, allowing the godling to finally stretch his arms again, then Reimu hides the rest of her needles and says "good. Seems we broke him, so I supposed giving him a little bit more freedom will help us drill the lessons into his brain easier."

The four of them stare as the pathetic fallen god rubs his wrists, while from the roof, Suika holds Tenshi's shoulder, making sure the celestial doesn't stoop to the boy's level and murders him where he is.

* * *

Moments later, in front of Ail's house, after the half youkai closes his gap, he grabs Sanae's hand, looks back at the god on a leash, then says "now remember, the only way I will take this off you is if you behave like a civilized person, got that?"

Drake growls, annoyed at the fact that he's being treated like a dog, and nods while glowering at the maiden and dense boy.

Anilan sighs, turns around, opens the door, then is immediately tackled by a bat-winged and a lime-green and white blurs, while Phredia flies out the door and excitedly flies in a circle above the boy.

Before he or Sanae have the chance, Ayalina cries "my baby! My dear baby boy, we thought you were dead!"

Budou wraps her arms around her papa's neck, squeezes him, and between sobs she cries "the paper. said you. were killed. and I cried. and then. and then-"

Her sobbing becomes so bad, she can only babble, while Ail furiously asks "the paper? What about the paper? Wh-what's going on?"

Sanae pulls Budou off the dense boy and asks "sweetie, what are you talking about?", but ends up being gripped by the sweet little bat girl and held in a tight hug, where her vest becomes the napkin for the crying youkai.

Ayalina, still squeezing her son's face against her chest, pulls a newspaper from her apron's pocket and says "take a look."

She give the boy some room after the elf fairy pushes her forehead, then Ail opens the paper while saying "thank you kindly Phredia."

The blue and white maiden bends down so that she and her boy can read the headline together, which says "Gensokyo's Dense Boy Dies At The Hands of a Godly Maniac.

After reading that headline, the couple stare flatly at each other and say "**goddammit Aya**," then the dense one calmly asks "seriously, how does she print these so fast?"

The young-looking mother gets up on her feet, pulls her boy up along with her, and happily sniffles and says "it doesn't matter! What matter is that you're alive and well. Now come, let's go-eh?"

She finally takes notice of the godling she and Budou crushed under Ail, then points at him, a murderous aura rises from the pit of her own stomach, and with a vile smile on her face, she asks "that wouldn't happen to be that god-in-training from the picture, right?"

Both Ail and Sanae nod, and somehow Ayalina has the fallen god's leash on her hand while smiling and saying "you don't say? Excellent. This is most excellent."

Inside the house, in the kitchen, Ayalina has complete control over Drake and has him tied to a chair while slapping him across the face and saying "you! won't! kill! my! Ail! or! anyone! ever! again! **REPEAT!**"

She stops slapping the gogling who desperately cries out "**you're INSANE!**"

"SAY IT!" barks the mad mother as she raises her hand again, then the smart and frightened boy shouts "WAH! I WON'T KILL YOUR AIL OR ANYONE EVER AGAIN! **REPEAT!**"

The young woman smiles dearly and rubs the terrified boy's head as she sweetly says "see? You can do it."

Meanwhile, on the couch in the living room, the giggling Budou sits between Ail and Sanae, who manage to hold each other and the bat at the same time, while Phredia flies in slow circles above their heads, showering them with sparkles from her wings.

After a while of silently holding each other, the shrine maiden softly says "I better head home now. I want to go to sleep now and get up early. **WE** are doing this thing with Reimu together."

The boy smiles lightly and bows his head, then looks back to his girl and says "wouldn't have it any other way."

Budou stretches her wings, hops off the couch after smacking both her mama and papa with them, then yawns and says "come on Phredia. They want to get all mushy now. See you tomorrow mama, papa."

The two love birds stare at the little youkai girl and fairy with surprise, but before they can comment, Ayalina drags the chair with Drake toward the master bedroom and happily says "don't worry, we won't bother you either. Oh, be sure to clean up if you leave a mess."

The woman runs with her victim to the room and avoids a shower of tiny stars from the blue and white, though the godlin wasn't so lucky.

The flushed Sanae stares at the confused Ail, who asks "was she... just implying we-"

"Don't think too hard on it," angrily growls the girl.

They stare at each other, giggle, hold each other tight, press their lips together, then Yukari giggles and says "what a touching scene when a couple makes up and get into action. Are there going to be fireworks tonight?"

Resigning to their fates, the two just sigh, bump forehead together, kiss in front of the blushing onlooker, almost eating each other up while completely disregarding the staring guest, and once they are done they smile mischievously at the gap sage and simultaneously ask "**hot enough for you?**"

Yukari fans herself with her folding fan while pulling on her dress' collar, then clears her throat and says "right, right. Um, are you ready for tomorrow then? You did get the fairy, right?"

Ail shakes his head and says "too much commotion. Reimu agreed we all look for her together."

"And I'll be there to make sure nothing happens," quickly injects the Moriya Maiden.

The blonde youkai nods once, covers her mouth with her fan, then says "now Ail, now that you are free from that thing's hold, I believe you understand this isn't over."

The boy nods once, then the shrine maiden says "WHAT? Not over? HE WAS JUST MURDERED and you say this isn't OVER?"

Fear becomes evident in the eyes of the half youkai boy, but even so he holds the maiden and kisses her forehead, holds her head against his chest, then says "it's like Yukari said. I understand the consequences of what I did a little more... *deep breath*, but I am yet to fully understand what I did, and so I have to accept any result that may befall me, be them good... or bad."

Yukari smiles, closes her fan and gives the couple a hug on the neck, and while pressing them both against her cheeks she playfully says "he's becomes a smart little dense boy again. You should be so proud!"

She releases them again, causing them both to fall on their faces, then says "don't worry now. I will help you out; with both Reimu, and this lesson for the enlightened."

As the couple get up, the youkai sage floats down to their faces, gets closer to Ail, then whispers "you are lucky. I didn't have anyone to guide me when I first started."

He immediately wants to ask, to hear her stories of her past blunders, but he makes the mistake of blinking once, and the woman is gone.

Sanae helps him up and asks "what was all that about?"

The dense boy looks around the house, wondering if Yukari is still there, then looks at his girl and says "I think my tutor is mad at me."

Sanae stares straight into Ail's golden eyes, but fails to form the question inside her mind into words.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Luna, Ayalina, Kimi, Kali, Leon, Lina and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Ail's spell card: "Light Sign, Within the Jewel's Core"; and

Damien's spell card: "Chaos Sign, Demonic Magicanon"; were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Damien was created by Hydroviper

Damien's Spell card: "Chaos Sign, Spark of Death"; was created by Hydroviper.

OCT 18 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Man, that's one HELL of a punishment for mister stupid godling. And trust me, this is not over. It is time he both pays for all that he's done, AND gets punishment for those things as well (which will cause us all to both grin and laugh). Wait, those are the same.**

**I know Rika may have seemed out of character here, but you can't expect someone as sweet and as loving of life as her to react calmly to murder. Particularly for someone she cares for. Drake is NOT one of them, but that's kind of obvious. Painfully so I might add. The next chapters leading to the end will be more comedy oriented at the expense of others (particularly Drake). I must admit, I thought this story would have more chapters, but then I saw how many words I have packed into each chapter and it all makes sense now. Anyway, thanks for reading all the way down here.**

**And now for something random. I am imagining a spin-off with the Touhou girls in leotards (including the Watatsuki sisters). Hmm, Toyohime as main? I have the imagination, but do I have the guts?**


	17. Chapter 17

Morning at the Forest of Magic, at the living room in Ail's house, the reborn boy places his boots on and sighs after thinking of the day ahead.

He looks out the window and thinks "_yup. They're expecting me to take him there myself. Thank goodness I got my powers back._"

"GOOD MORNING PAPA!", exclaims Budou after dropping from the ceiling with a muffin on a plate on her hands.

The dense boy stares, smiles, scratches the little youkai's head and makes her giggle, then says "good morning Budou. Aren't you full of energy this morning."

"That's because papa is back, just like mommy two promised big sis," joyfully says the happy little bat before offering the plate and saying "here, here! Breakfast for papa Ail!"

His smile becomes blissful as he accepts the muffin breakfast and thanks the girl, while Phredia flutters down the ceiling with a mug of green tea hovering magically to her right.

While he eats, the youkai and elf fairy stare at his golden eyes, then Budou asks "so, why are your eyes gold now?"

Ail shrugs and replies "not sure. Maybe it's something temporary," and after finishing his small meal, he stands up to take the plate and mug to the sink while saying "now, to clean these and get Drake. Today he goes with Kyo, while me and Sanae help fix Miss Reimu."

The bat and fairy swipe the plate and mug off the boy's hand, and before he can ask, the teal-haired girl giggles and says "you let us handle the dishes. After this, Gramma Ayalina said I could go own those underground noobs in the internet and teach them the meaning of pain and ownage."

Anilan stares with fright at the vicious grin on her face and bright glint on the little youkai's eyes, but decides to chuckle and say "ah, that's good sweetie," then thinks "_what in the world is mom teaching this girl?_"

Moments later, the boy stands in front of the door to what used to be his room, knocks twice and calls "mom, I need that Drake fellow now," then opens the door and remains stationary as he glances around casually, though with a bit of curiosity, inside.

The room is dark, lit by a single torch behind the nails bed on the back of the room, where the queen-sized bed should be, an electric chair with a water pale in front of it beside the nails bed, a wooden horse on the left-side wall, and Drake Starstriker and the leather-clad, whip-wielding Ayalina are to the right side of the room, where the weakened godling sits strapped to an uncomfortable wooden chair in nothing but a fundoshi, while the crazy flower youkai strikes him repeatedly with the whip.

Her outfit is a simple black top with spikes on the cups, forearm gloves with spikes on the elbows, a tight black bottom with a loin cloth in front, and a pair of knee-high boots; no mask.

She stops the beatings and they both stare back at the dense boy, large beads of sweat roll down their sides, then the god in training desperately shouts "**help me please! This woman is INSANE!**"

She grips the boy by his leash and pulls him closer to her face, then angrily grumbles "you still owe me for killing my baby boy, freak!"

Ail face palms, expels a long and tired sigh, then says "mom, I know he's a vile, ruthless and generally rude murderer, but subjecting him to torture won't change a thing."

Drake can't believe the dense boy didn't hear the young woman's threats and weakly asks "seriously? Didn't you hear what she just said to me?"

Ayalina knocks the boy out by striking him with the handle of her whip, smiles at her baby boy, then says "he is still a very naughty god craving several spankings and discipline inducing punishment."

The gold-eyed boy crosses his arms and nods while repeating "mm-hmm, mm-hmm," then walks inside, grabs the chair where the godling is strapped to and says "well it's time to take him to Kyo."

He pulls the chair with the semi-conscious boy toward the exit and continues "he and the girls are taking this bastard back to Eintei and Myouren, where he **will** apologize and, if he can, undo any mistake he may have made."

Drake suddenly wakes up, growls, then barks "I did nothing wrong! I merely pointed out some obvious- eep!"

Even the hot, young-looking mother in leather feels a cold chill when her son gives the godling a cold and frightening look that shows the anger he feels is more than enough to ignite a whole stadium in fire with just a spark.

After everything quiets down, Ail opens a gap and calmly says "anyways, mom, me and Sanae are going to be helping Miss Reimu today, so I might come home late. Please take care of Budou and Phredia for me."

Ayalina nods and says "of course," then her son waves goodbye, forces the suddenly free-of-the-chair semi-naked boy to nod, then jumps into the gap.

As soon as the rift closes, the sexy leather-clad woman takes a deep breath of relief, then says to herself "geez, that boy of mine. Where did he learn the evil gaze from? *Sigh* Just like his mother. I'm so proud of him."

* * *

Just a few moments later, Ail's gap opens up right in front of Kyo's house at the Human Village.

When at first he pops out, some people wave while others just glance over and smile, but when he pulls the fully-clothed Drake, whom wears a black shirt under the brown vest today, angry faces take over the peaceful community.

Even the fully-healed Lester Wilson gives the godling a very cold and dirty glare from the comfort of his house before snarling and closing his windows.

Before the leashed god can ask what is happening, Maribel and Renko run to Ail, tackle him with a hug, and both start expressing their happiness for the boy's well being at the same time, thus making no sense.

After the girls calm down and the boy chuckles, all three get off the crushed god boy, then the dense boy says "it's alright. Yes, it hurt like hell at first. No, I don't remember anything between dying and waking up again."

Maribel smiles with glee, chuckles, then says "oh well, the important thing is that you are alright."

The girls spot Starstriker on the ground, their smiles become cold glares, then Renko points at him and asks "is that the **thing** in the newspaper? The one that made Byakuren cry, killed youkai, stormed the SDM, made Rika cry, **AND **killed you?"

Anilan smiles and nods, and each girl smashes the godling's torso and face with a blood red bat while the blonde shouts "Byakuren is a nice person, jerk... Eintei heal people... That's for Rika and Sakuya!", and the brown-haired girl shouts "Patchouli didn't deserve that... I bet those were nice rabbits... Picking on the weak, you brute!"

After one last smash from those bats, both girls simultaneously shout "**you made Rika cry and killed Ail! DIE!**"

Ail pulls both girls by the shoulders, and while staring at the blood slowly coursing down those blood-red blunt objects, he casually says "um, alright now, I think he got the point already. Ladies, it's been a pleasure, but please, leave the senseless violent beatings to the pros, like Miss Yuka."

Both girls giggle, drop their bloodied bats, then bow as Maribel says "that was a little unlady-like, but it felt good. We'll leave the rest up to you."

After they straighten up, Renko pulls on her friend's hand, then runs away and says "alright Mary, time to visit Akyuu now. Ail, thanks for the screen time!"

As they run, the dense boy waves at them and calls back "no problem girls!"

Drake springs up from the ground with bumps on the bumps on his face and head, a black eye, broken teeth, and swollen cheeks, then asks "hey, what is going on here? Why is everyone glaring at and attacking me?"

Ail sits on his knees on a green cushion while peacefully drinking from a mug of tea, surprising the wounds right out of the god-in-training's face, then says "I asked Yukari to ask Aya to do a full report on you. It appears to be a smashing success."

The godling wants nothing more than to strangle that dense boy, but then he notices Reimu's sealing charms on said boy's fingers, chokes, then backs away.

"First smart decision I've seen you take since you got here, god-boy," says Kyo from the porch of his house, where he can be seen calling off his flame sword.

"Ah, Kyo," begins the dense boy as he walks to his friend and shakes his hand, then continues "I hope you're ready for today. Sounds like it's going to be a pain for you."

The muscle boy scoffs, looks with disgust at the cross-armed godling, then says "this should be cake. Especially now that this kid here is weaker than me."

Ail smiles, nods, then hands over the Hakurei brand leash, three of Reimu's sealing charms, and a golden whistle.

Kyo glances at the items on his hands, studies the whistle and charms, then asks "what's all of this for?"

The dense boy smiles and casually says "the leash is to keep him from getting too far from you, the seals are for **if** he decides to act like an ass again, you will completely block all of his powers and render him useless, and the whistle is a precaution."

The forest-green muscle-shirted boy stares at his friend, blinks twice, and after a few seconds pass he slowly asks "precaution for what exactly?"

The calm dense boy raises his finger to the sky, then says "Sanae-chan, Miss Reimu and I will be together all day. You blow that to summon me if things get out of hand, though I am sure they won't, and we three will come and kick what may need to be kicked."

After the explanation, he rapidly adds "can't guarantee mercy from either maiden. Effects may vary. Use with caution."

The confused boy and frightened godling stare at Anilan as he rides inside his own gap to the air, then Luna and Medicine, whom now stand beside Kyo and hold the charms and whistle, wave at the dense one.

The silver-haired girl smiles and says "don't worry. If anything happens you'll be the first to know."

"That's **if** this scrap-brained god escapes my poison," adds the confident youkai doll while fanning herself with the charms.

Ail waves at them, exclaims "take care you guys. See you later. And Miss Medicine, careful with those charms," then points at the godling and though smiling, he ominously says "and you best behave or we're playing volleyball with Flan-chan again. Bye~"

Before the boy enters the gap, Kyo shouts "wait! Ail, you and I gotta have a fight soon!"

The dense boy rests his elbows on the edge of his gap, rests his head on his hands, making himself look like a make-believe copy of Yukari, and happily says "invite me to a sparring match and I might consider it," opens a gap behind his friend and says "and here's a quick-jump to the Bamboo Forest," then does a two-fingers salute before jumping inside his rift.

The family of three shiver and chuckle nervously simultaneously, then Drake asks "seriously, you want to fight that guy? But he's so strong. Are you suicidal or something?"

"What a wuss," spits Medicine before grinning vilely, then adds "this is going to be **fun**."

Kyo and Luna stare at the poison girl in disbelief, then the silver-haired girl says "you and Ail can be pretty evil sometimes, you know that?"

Su-San pops out of hiding, twirls then bows along with her master while floating above her shoulder, then the little blonde youkai says "a good little girl I am not kiddos."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu and Tenshi stare sadly at Rika, whom even though is depressed, has already served them breakfast, swept the shrine grounds, and now sits on the veranda with Suzaku next to her, rubbing under the red bird's beak as if looking for some comfort.

The red and white maiden sighs, then says "and she just recovered from those haunting memories."

The blue-haired celestial sighs and says "to think, she was smiling so much just before she got sucked into that swirly thing."

"Yeah, a real shame," says Aya from behind the girls, getting their attention and adding "you guys should try cheering her up. You **are** her closest friends."

The shrine maiden and annoying celestial stare at the crow tengu sitting between them, then the armpit maiden asks "wait, you? Not Hatate? I was expecting Hatate!"

The peachy Hinanai nods twice, then says "or maybe that marshmallow-half girl with the silver hair and toy swords."

Somewhere in Hakugyokurou, Youmu twitches, stares at her ghost half, grabs it, squeezes it gently, then says "hmm, you are out of shape."

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, the Hakurei maiden rests her head on her hand while looking at the bird girl and asks "so what exactly did you do to Hatate?"

Shameimaru chuckles, shrugs, then says "me? Nothing. She locked herself up in her house saying she's going to search and find the thing that will cheer her Rika-sis."

Somewhere in the tengu village, the twin-tailed tengu paces left and right inside a house while looking at her phone camera and saying "come on. Hurry up! Grr, like, how long are you going to take, huh? You're out of shape!"

The camera bleeps, images start appearing in its screen, then Hatate shrieks "no, NO! Wait, that's not it! I don't want picture of her dying, that's only going to make it worse!"

Back at the shrine, Tenshi sighs, lets her head drop on the table, somehow missing the plates in front, then says "oh man, this sucks. Rika's back to square one and I have no idea how to cheer her up."

A vein pulsates on Reimu's forehead, then she angrily says "don't forget I am here, and I do plan on cheering her up too, so make sure to say _US_ and/or _WE_ next time."

Eye-sparks fly between the maiden and celestial, but before things get too heated up, Aya places a mirror between them to stop the heated sparks, then says "ok, let's not start this. She doesn't need this crap now."

The girls stare at the tengu's straight face, and just like that they relax and listen to what she has to say.

Shameimaru sighs, then says "alright, all we have to do is talk to her, and I'm going to give you a little help here. And trust me, this should work better than fighting. Now come, before she decides to go sulk somewhere else."

They approach Rika and the roosting Suzaku, and even though they make some noise there is no reaction from either, worrying the girls a little, and just as Reimu and Tenshi take a deep breath to say their piece, the maid surprises them by looking at them with those bloodshot, teary eyes.

The shrine maid's smile is heavily pained and accompanied with more tears, then the celestial quickly kneels by her friend's side and holds her head against her own shoulder and says "Rika, please let it out. Don't let it harm you from within like last time."

The shrine maiden clenches her teeth under her lips while thinking "_that peach freak moves fast dammit!_"

Before long, the angel-winged girl sobs, then loudly says "I couldn't save her! She had to come and save **me**, and I couldn't even stand and help! And then she disappears! I couldn't... I couldn't even give her a proper burial!"

Reimu quickly kneels behind Tenshi and scratches her maid's head while softly saying "Rika, you did your very best out there. You all went against a god."

"Yeah! But why did you succeed? MY lady, I want to be as strong as you! I wanted to save them and I couldn't," cries the maid before her blue-haired friend squeezes her gently.

After the girl quiets down, the eldest daughter says "I'm so sorry. I should have been there with you. We could have beaten him together!"

The crying girl pushes herself away from her friend and stares with confusion, then the red and white softly says "I didn't win on my own Rika. Yuka, Kurumi, Sanae, Marisa, and that Damien guy that doesn't like Ail or Kyo, were there with me. We worked together to defeat Dra... that monster."

When the angel-winged girl looks to Aya, the tengu nods and says "Reimu said you were sucked into a vortex, completely unprepared. The odds were against you from the start, so don't beat yourself up. You did your best, so be proud."

Rika pushes herself away from the girls and her bird, swings her hands in the air to show her anger, and loudly says "you don't understand! I've trained hard, developed spell cards and techniques so I didn't lose another loved friend like I lost my little sister!"

She stares at her hands, tears flow down her cheeks, and she cries "but all of that was in vain. That poor girl. She was hurt and scared all the time. I couldn't even get to help her, and then she gets killed by an overpowered **bully** with delirious thoughts if being righteous! Pheh! A righteous **murderer** is what he is!"

Hakurei now stands in front of her maid and holds her head, knowing said girl would never dare try to get away from her, then bumps foreheads and says "Rika, that is the past. There's nothing you can do to change that now except learn from those experiences, as horrible as they are."

Suzaku flies to Reimu's shoulder to look at her master in the eyes after the maiden releases her, then speaks telepathically so that all may hear "_master, please listen to mom. She's right. You can't let this get you down. You have to stand up, learn from these life lessons and move on being the wiser at every step._"

Tenshi stands to the maid's left, grabs her hand, smiles when they look into each other's eyes, and says "don't make us go through this again. Cheer up! You are a happy, strong girl who's had too much shit hit her in life, but this time, you have me, the armpits girl, and many others that care and worry about you."

Ignoring Reimu's complaints over 'the armpits girl' remark, Aya shows a weak smile to the maid and says "I can vouch for the celestial on that. Hatate's locked herself in her room, looking for something to make **you** smile again, and, um, honestly speaking, I personally like it more when you smile you know."

Rika sighs loudly, lowers her head a bit, cleans the tears off her face, then looks at the girls with brighter eyes and softly says "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you all so much. But you have to understand, this really hurt me in many ways, especially because of my..."

She thinks long before speaking again, smiles a little more convincing than before, and says "I won't let this consume me. I will learn from this, I won't allow this to happen again, but this still hurts. Please, give me some time so that I may heal."

Tenshi abruptly grabs the maid and holds her in a tight embrace, and softly says "don't leave me out again. I am your friend and I promised I'd be with you and help you, but if you keep shutting me out and pushing me away, how can I? How can any of us help you?"

The shrine maid is left in shock and is unable to return the hug, and just stares at the girls with surprise in her eyes, but even after realizing where she is once again; her dream home, Gensokyo; her thoughts turn to Kali and how she feels she failed the shadow, and how she almost failed her little sister Koakuma.

* * *

At the Moriya Shrine, Ail's gap opens up in front of the donation box, where Kanako and Suwako are having a few morning alcoholic drinks.

The dense boy jumps out of the rift, and as soon as it closes up, the blonde froggy goddess says "oh look, it's the zombie. A sexy zombie."

Though he smiles, a vein pulsates on his forehead as he says "my, Miss~is Suwako, good morning to you too," then relaxes as he looks to the bouncy drunk and says "and Miss Kanako, good morning. How are you guys?"

The blue-haired wind goddess lifts her arm in the air an says "go-heh heh, good mornin' young man. Don't, um, make Shanae cry again, or I beat you. I beat you good," then drops on her back and falls asleep.

Anilan stares, blinks, shakes his head, then says "alcohol can be scary."

Kero-chan chuckles, takes the drink from her tiny cup, then stares at her ancient friend as she says "ahh~ that poor light-weight," looks back to Ail and says "Sanae's waiting for you inside. I wouldn't keep her waiting. Oh, and compliment her new perfume."

The dense boy nods and begins the walk toward the living building, but before he's too far, Suwako grins and says "I missed you kiddo. Don't go doing stupid things and losing yourself again, so I can keep helping you. After all, that other you doubts the gods."

He nods again though doesn't face the goddess, continues on his way, and before he's out of earshot he calmly says "that other me is dead. That god in training saw to it."

The Moriya goddess stares at the boy as he continues on his way, pours some more sake into her cup, and with a sad smile on her face she says to herself "too bad there is still some influence in there."

Ail reaches the living room, looks inside the empty couches and silent kitchen, then calls "Sanae? Are you here?"

Before he even blinks, a white, blue and green blur turns into Sanae right before his very eyes, and as though in a trance, he stares.

She has made her hair a little more wavy, somehow, the left strand of hair she coils a snake around has become longer, and add to that the new subtle flowery perfume she's currently wearing.

The maiden giggles, holds both hands below her waist, lowers her head slightly, and with an upward glance she playfully says "morning Ail-kun. I'm ready whenever you are~"

Hearts replace the pupils of the boy's eyes, a bit of drool trickles down the left corner of his mouth, his cheeks have turned bright pink, and with a cracked voice he begins "MORning Sa-SANae..."

She giggles out loud, he clears his throat, whispers "lemme try that one again," then says "um, good morning Sanae-chan. You are, um, looking fabulous. L-love the hairstyle. A-and love the new perfume."

The Moriya Maiden starts to giggle lightly, then giggles louder and louder until Ail begins to blush harder, then jumps on him and tackles him to the ground, where she begins to consume her willing prey with endless kisses.

From behind the bushes in front of the living room's entrance, the two perverted goddesses hold camcorders while drooling, blushing and recording everything, and at the same time flip a thumbs-up seal of approval coin to nowhere in particular.

After the couple gets up from the ground and catch their breath, the giggling boyfriend opens a gap and says "come on sweetheart. We need to go get Miss Reimu now."

The giggling girlfriend nods and says "ok," and just like that she tosses a couple of charms to the air and walks hand-in-hand with Ail to the gap.

Behind the bushes in front of the living room's entrance, Suwako and Kanako lie dazed on their backs with their charmed camcorders lodged into their eyes.

The well-endowed goddess of war moans and says "she found us out again."

The cute blonde goddess of curses moans and says "aaauuuuu. At least she didn't use the nail clippers this time."

Ail's next gap opens right at the back of the Hakurei Shrine, just as Tenshi releases the shrine maid from the warm embrace, seconds before the red and white throttles the celestial with her gohei from behind, all while the tengu takes several pictures, even though the vermilion bird is pecking her head repeatedly.

The couple stare at the peculiar scene from the safety of the gap, then Ail sighs and says "Hakurei Shrine. If it doesn't happen here, it doesn't happen at all."

The girls freeze in place and stare at the boy and green-haired girl, then the dense one waves his fingers and says "hey Rika. How are you feeling little sis?"

The shrine's maid sighs, slumps, and while holding back her tears, she says "I'm hanging in there, but... I'm still a little pained."

The dense boy and his girlfriend walk out of the gap and head straight for the angelic maid, and while holding her shoulder to show his support, he smiles and says "I understand. But I know you are a strong little sister. You'll get better soon."

Ail then turns his attention to the other girls, smiles, then asks "Miss Aya, Miss Suzaku, Miss Tenshi, and Miss Reimu, how are you guys? And why are you looking at me as though you've seen a ghost or something?"

Shameimaru takes a picture of the boy, smiles and says "did you know you have golden eyes now?"

"Yes, I do," casually replies the dense one just as the celestial asks "why are you calling Rika **_your _**_little sister?_"

"Because we agreed on that," he casually replies just before the vermilion bird asks "_so you're going after the ice fairy today, right?"_

"Yup! We're Cirno hunting today," happily replies the golden-eyed boy, just before the red and white rushes closer to him and hopefully asks "can we go without Sanae?"

"Nope! My lovely Sanae-chan is coming with us, sis," happily replies the target-boy just before the blue and white girl wraps her arm around his hips and playfully pinches him.

After the couple giggles and Reimu snorts, all eyes turn to the shrine maid and her pained smile, then Ail looks straight at her and softly says "don't let that consume you. Smile and enjoy the gift Kali gave you. She'd be very hurt if she knew you were sulking so much after her sacrifice."

Those words reach the girl, the evidence when she gasps and twitches, then nods while her eyes appear to lose themselves inside her private thoughts.

The maidens and boy smile, a gap opens up behind them, and as he pulls the girls inside he says "come, it's time to begin our search."

Reimu manages to stop before entering the gap, looks at her maid, then says "please take care of the shrine for me, but if you need to rest, I order you to do so at your leisure! In fact, Tenshi, Suzaku, make sure she takes today off!"

Rika tries to protest, but finds herself unable to do so when the bird and peach-girl salute, and the blue-haired girl exclaims "I'll make sure she rests!"

The shrine maiden nods, enters the gap with Ail and Sanae, then the dense boy casually says "now, after we find Cirno, we have to summon Yukari and ask her to teach me how to work those memory borders."

Both girls shout out loud in shock "**WHAT?**", then the rift closes up, leaving the shrine maid in a state of deep thought, and Aya with a viciously happy grin on her face.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Eintei's front yard, Kaguya, Eirin, Toyohime, and Yorihime with Mystia clinging on her shoulders from behind, stand by the porch and look down toward the four visitors near the gates.

Reisen two, Udonge, Tewi, and a whole army of youkai earth rabbits stand in a semi circle with their hands aimed toward said visitors, and all, particularly Tewi, shoot hateful glowers toward one particular guest.

Kyo, Luna and Medicine with Su-San floating above her shoulder, stand in front of the leashed Drake, keeping their distance from the hated godling in case the rabbits or aliens decide to attack that boy without warning.

The ex Lunarian Princess in a kimono giggles, then happily says "well, I'm actually glad I gave the standby order after you guys left yesterday, or this would have been a sudden and very short visit for **him**, and then I'd have to blame Inaba."

Though the princess calls all the rabbits by the name of Inaba, Udonge knows deep in her heart that comment was directed to her, and noticing her distress, the second Reisen places her hand on her senior's shoulder and says "I understand. I understand your feelings well."

The muscled boy chuckles, combs his hair backward with his hand and says "turns out Ail went to do this thing with Reimu today after all."

The Lunarian pharmacist chuckles, then softly says to the others "told you that supposedly-dense boy was a player," causing the other girls to chuckle and giggle amongst themselves.

The fallen god looks around, gets a step closer to Luna, then asks "why have you brought me here? These youkai things keep staring me with hatred. I can see the bloodlust in their eyes."

"Glad you noticed," says the athletic woman with a smile and a sarcastic tone, then the poisonous youkai girl adds "hey, you're not as stupid as you look, but just to be sure, do you even know why they hate you so much?"

Drake shrugs nonchalantly and mumbles "I just defended myself from them," then Kaguya points at him and loudly says "you, the unwelcome cretin that murdered the two Inabas the other day. Step forth!"

Kyo pulls on the leash and forces the godling to the front, he and the girls take a few steps back in case of any bullet showers, then Starstriker stares defiantly at the black haired Lunarian.

Toyohime takes the front, stares at the boy in brown, then scowls and says "so you are the monster that killed the two earth rabbits for no reason. What a disgusting sight you are."

"Hey, I was defending myself from-"

Before the vile godling can continue speaking, he feels a cold gun and a very hot finger being pushed under his chin, and before he can even think of complaining, the long-haired moon rabbit beside the short haired one angrily says "you don't **speak **unless asked to, you disgusting swine!"

Eirin steps forth, stares at the boy straight in the eyes from where she stands, and says "first of all, young man, kneel before Princess Kaguya. Second, like Udonge suggested, keep your mouth shut unless one of us asks you to speak. I hope I made myself clear."

Drake can feel how that woman's gaze pierces his very soul and weakens his will, and as the two moon rabbits remove the weapon and finger from underneath his face, he slowly bends his right knee and sets the left on the ground.

After knelt, he looks up at the aliens with respect, then the black-haired alien says "I've been thinking about this over and over, and I just want to know. Why did you kill those Inabas? ...Speak!"

The godling stammers for a bit and even looks back at Kyo and Luna, as though looking for support, then looks back toward the Lunarians and coldly says "I was defending myself."

Yorihime takes a step forward with a look of shock and disbelief, then loudly says "a strong god like you got so afraid of two rabbit maids that you had to murder them?", then shakes her head as she scoffs.

Kaguya takes the front again, points at the boy, then smiles and says "please look around you. Absorb the scenery around you, and tell me what you see."

The boy obediently does so, and as he looks around he wonders what exactly is wrong with the people of that world, but as he looks at the many angry and scared faces surrounding him, he begins thinking about Ail's words; about how Gensokyo isn't happy about his actions.

All those faces show hatred and fear toward him, not admiration or faith as he foolishly thought.

He looks around some more and starts to feel scared and alone, and that's when Tewi appears before him, swings her hands twice across his face, leaving six deep cuts on his cheeks, and shouts "that's for Zhinka and Kara! They didn't deserve to go like that!"

Kyo fears Drake will react violently and prepares to attack, but stops and stares with surprise when that godling simply lowers his face and softly says "I'm sorry. I just... it's just that, I didn't know how else to react. Y-you have to believe me!"

The youkai rabbit snarls, points at his face, then says "I'm not done with you! Our friends will be avenged! Pheh! Stupid fake god!"

Starstriker stares at Tewi with both shock and sadness in his eyes and wants to say something, but gags when he tries to speak, and forgets what he wanted to say, and now feels weak, almost like when Rika denied him and his godhood, thus realizing he is being denied again.

Smiling with satisfaction, Kaguya claps her hands twice, then says "alright then, you may now stand. Seems you understand the pain you have caused our allies after all."

She looks at Eirin, nods, then the silver haired Lunarian smiles and gestures her hands at Yorihime and Toyohime, signaling them to head inside the house, while Drake slowly stands up with a pained look on his face.

Afterward, the black-haired Lunarian giggles, then loudly says "alright now! Seems the thick-headed god is starting to get it, so let's all go inside and celebrate his defeat and his brain opening up some!"

All the angry rabbit youkai, save for Tewi, smile and cheer as they run inside the mansion, making their princess giggle with glee, then Aya dives from the roof in front of the alien and says "got the pictures you wanted."

Kaguya bows her head slightly and happily says "oh, I thought you had forgotten about the agreement."

The tengu giggles nervously, then says "naw, I'd never forget that! I am the honest and pure Aya Shameimaru, fastest reporter in Gensokyo! I couldn't stain my name and title like that because of something so silly like forgetting an appointment!"

Luna places her hand on the reporter's shoulder and happily says "perhaps old age is catching up with you."

Aya flips her middle finger while giggling and saying "I'm still a seventeen year old maiden. Not a silver strand on my head yet!"

Kyo grabs both girls by the back of their necks before they start fighting, turns them toward the party, then says "come on ladies, let's have a few drinks and enjoy the festivities!"

After everyone else is inside, Medicine and Tewi stay behind, chuckling mischievously with each other while looking at the leashed god being pulled into a party honoring his defeat.

* * *

Ail's gap opens up near the west side shore of the Misty Lake, on the Scarlet Mansion's island.

As soon as the trio jump out and the rift closes up, the boy turns to address the ladies and is tackled to the ground by a red blur that exclaims "**big brother's back!**"

Ail now finds himself in the bone-crushing hug of Flandre while on the ground, and patting the vampire's head while grunting "Flan-chan. H-how are you? You're crushing me."

The adorable vampire giggles playfully before loosening her grip, and says "sorry, I got a little excited," as she stands up and helps the dense one up.

Both shrine maidens watch this from the sides, and both have envious green eyes while thinking they should be the ones hugging that boy.

"Oi~ Lady Flandre, please come back!", calls Meiling from the distance, running along Sakuya, both with distressed looks on their faces.

The gate guard's wounds have healed perfectly by now, but the chief maid still has bandages all over, though moves as if she was just fine.

The hot redhead grabs the blonde vampire against her stomach and says "please don't crush the visitors," then looks at the visiting trio, chuckles, and says "and good morning to you all. What brings you here today?"

The silver-haired maid rubs the bridge of her nose and coldly says "please tell me that stupid god-boy is still on his leash and that this is just a social visit."

Ail smiles, then casually says "don't worry. Kyo is taking that dog on a walk today. The girls and I are here to get Cirno, the ice fairy. You haven't seen her, have you?"

The mansion girls all shake their heads, then Sakuya takes a better look at the trio before her.

There is Ail, standing to the right with a smile on his face and densely unaware of Reimu, who stands to his left and keeps staring at him with hungry eyes, and Sanae, who stands to the red and white's left and keeps staring daggers at the hungry girl.

The maid scoffs and smiles, rubs her chin while analyzing the scene some more, then says to herself "weirdest trio I've seen so far."

The Hakurei Maiden snaps from her perversion and looks to the chief maid, and as if remembering something important, she quickly asks "ah, Sakuya, how are you feeling today?"

The dense boy shakes his head after remembering the day before, then asks "oh that's right? How are you guys feeling? And how is Lady Remilia, and Patchy, the fairies, the libr-"

The Moriya Maiden covers her boyfriend's mouth and says "honey, just ask 'how is everything?', and that should about sum things up."

The silver-haired maid can't help but giggle at the sight, nods at Sanae, then says "well, My Lady Remilia is still recovering, but she should be fine in another day or so. The hole on the library has been fixed and everyone in the library has recovered well. Leon should even be trying to make a move on Lady Patchouli as we speak."

"HYAAAAAAAN~" comes the passionate screams of Knowledge a moment before Leon loudly says "my love's hair is so soft!"

Meiling frowns, places her hands on her hips, then says "well, the mansion and the youkai are all well, but Miss Sakuya is still sore, and even so, she keep pushing herself too hard."

"I can't just lie down on some bed and- eep!"

The maid's brave speech is cut short when Flandre pokes her hip and makes her wince out loud, then the gate guard sighs and says "see? Miss Sakuya-san, you are human! Please rest and let us handle the repairs."

Reimu sighs as she shakes her head, then stares at her maid friend and says "as stubborn as ever I see. Well, guess that's what makes her human."

After a few laughs, Sakuya stops and asks "hang on. Why are you guys looking for the ice fairy? This doesn't concern the mansion or my lady, right?"

Ail chuckles and says "no, no, it's just that I need her help to rid Miss Reimu of some unneeded memories."

Flandre smiles as she happily points to the back of the island and says "I saw some ice over there. Maybe she's there."

The trio bows with appreciation, then Sanae smiles as she lifts her head and asks "say, can you guys help us out? The more the merrier after all."

The SDM trio smile widely at their guests, then the chief maid places her hand over her chest, bows slightly, then says "nope. We'll just head back home now. See you later!"

As the mansion's trio merrily skip away toward the gates, the search trio stare with smiles of disbelief plastered all over their faces, then Ail says "wow, so elegantly blunt."

Sanae continues staring at the Scarlet Mansion girls, particularly at the chief maid, then says "yeah, and she's got a sweet ass too. I'd like to smack it."

The dense boy and red and white stare unblinking at the blue and white, whom frowns, crosses her arms over her chest, and says "what? I get to be perverted too sometimes! There's nothing wrong with that."

Ail smiles, blushes, and as some hearts take over his pupils and some drool trickles down his lips, he says "Goddess Suwako, I love this woman."

Reimu gasps, lifts her hands in the air, then shouts "I CAN BE PERVERTED TOO!", but all she gets is a simultaneous "**yes, I know,**" from the smiling couple, and the feeling of embarrassment filling her entire being.

* * *

Back at Eintei, the party goes on as lively as it started, with buzzed rabbits running around red cheeked, Tewi and Medicine drinking mugs of beer while keeping their evil glares on Drake, Kyo and Luna pouring sake inside their mouths and kissing, and others, like Reisen two and Udonge, just enjoy the feast they themselves cooked.

Eirin chuckles lightly as Kaguya partakes on drinks and food and is currently cheering at nothing in particular, and Toyohime and Yorihime take this chance to approach the leashed godling while everyone's distracted.

Yorihime sits right next to the boy, takes notice of the many bruises all over his face, arms and head, then asks "and what the heck happened to you?"

The foolish god raises his hand, opens his mouth while breathing in, then a large 24 karat gold washtub falls with a solid *bong* on his head, then rolls away with a big dent on the center.

Toyohime giggles and says "ah, it seems Tewi and that Medicine girl have been having their fun with this one. Odd there was no poison."

The paralyzed god would like to say otherwise, but the poison smeared on that washtub is too strong, even for him.

The purple-haired Lunarian sighs and says "well, that's what you get for trying to be the savior of a land that doesn't need saving. But seriously, you are pretty weak for a godling. I mean, affected by poison? Pathetic."

Drake lifts a very shaky hand as the paralysis poison slowly leave his nervous system, and just as he's about to speak, a perfectly round hole opens up below him, sending him into a dark abyss, but the end of his leash is caught on the trap door's hinge, and though it chokes him, it also saves him from crashing on some sharpened jagged rocks on the dark bottom.

As the Lunarians look inside the hole, Mystia flies by while singing "that is what happens to gods~ who goof~ Now he is so weak and patheeeeeetic~ All because faith is laaaaacking~"

The blue-faced god used the leash to climb out of that death-trap, sits beside the hole, takes a deep breath, then Yorihime casually says "hm, you are definitely a god I'd never summon. You're just like one of these Earth humans. Selfish, self-righteous, weak, and emotionally unstable."

The stupid godling springs on his feet and summons a weak ball of light to his raised hands and shouts "who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like tha-ARGH!"

Medicine has double-kicked the back of the god's head at the same time as Kyo strikes the monster's back with a flaming fist.

When the boy in brown is subdued, the muscled boy angrily says "you try another stunt like that again and I'm using the seals, no questions asked!"

Medicine scoffs, turns around and says "seriously, what a temper," then Tewi jumps out of nowhere with a massive mallet on her hands and strikes the back of Starstriker's head before he is able to get up, then leaves while humming a casual tune as though nothing has happened.

After the godling is finally allowed to get up, he looks up to the Watatsuki sisters and their nonchalant faces.

Toyohime sighs and says "pity. It did seem you had potential to be a good god, but... you have lost that, a long time ago."

Yorihime holds the boy's face so that they are looking eye-to-eye, then says "yes, I can summon gods, and no, you are not. I know you've been told this many times, but I'll say it again. To be a god, you must have an open mind, not a single-tracked view of what should and should not be. If you ever re-learn that, you might have a chance."

The Lunarian sisters get up, turn their backs, then walk away from Drake, leaving him with a venomous glare and crocodile tears hanging underneath his eyes.

He looks around and his eyes dry up the second he realizes nobody is keeping an eye on him, so he picks up his leash and begins to crawl away with a suspicious face.

He manages to crawl right out of the mansion without anyone taking notice, then looks up to the sky with hope and thinks "_alright, I'm free! Just need to summon enough strength and fly away from here, as fast as I can._"

They boy closes his eyes and slowly summons the energy needed to fly away, then kicks off the ground and stops.

He feels a cold and heavy energy coming from the left, then he hears a soft sob.

At first he thinks of ignoring this and continue his escape, but something about this odd energy seems to pull him toward its source, and for some reason he cannot explain, he finds himself being drawn toward the heavy energy.

Drake reaches the far back of Eintei's grounds where there's a small graveyard, where Tewi sits between two mounds of dirt with an inscripted headstone each, and reads the names of Zhinka on the left, and Kara on the right.

"I can only play pranks on him," sadly says the Earth rabbit youkai, "I don't have it in me to kill that idiot. I've gotten soft. I'm sorry I can't avenge you girls."

The godling stares at the scene in silence for over a minute before something starts stinging his chest.

He knows that youkai in front of him tricked a god, made a fool of a higher being, but he is noticing now, when it's already too late, that what he did was nothing more than, what Rika called, bullying.

Though his heart keeps stinging him, he keeps a straight face while staring at the graves, then all of a sudden he face palms and grunts loudly, raises his hands, then beautiful multi-colored flowers that seem to glow with the bit of sunlight shimmering between bushes and bamboo leaves grow right in front of the headstones.

Tewi gasps and jumps away from the flowers, kicks the godling's face in mid-jump, knocking him back to the ground, then shouts "what the hell do you think you are doing? Get out of here before I get seriously pissed off!"

Drake quickly sits up on the ground, places his left arm on his legs, supports himself with his right arm, then says "Tewi Inaba, trickster rabbit dem... no, youkai. I have come to apologize to you and your allies for what I have done."

The shocked youkai rabbit can't believe her ears, and raising an eyebrow in doubt, she shouts "why should I believe those poisonous words of yours? I did nothing to you and you just attacked me, then went on and killed two of my friends!"

The god in training sighs, nods, then says "I... have too much to learn. I have been acting like a human, that much is clear to me now, and no, I still don't understand how this world works."

Tewi stares at the boy with both surprised and doubt, but allows him to continue his speech; "I hurt you and many others, and I just don't understand why. I felt I was merely defending myself and pointing out some things that... Look, just understand that I am sorry for what I have done to you and your friends."

The black rabbit of Eintei stares at the boy, still undecided to whether he is telling the truth or not, and before the doubt can be cleared, the godling gags when the leash is pulled to the air and Luna exclaims "well, seems there was some progress done here today."

The youkai rabbit stares up at the trio, but is unable to say anything, then Medicine says "don't worry, I'll torture him some more for the both of us."

Kyo chuckles, pulls Drake's leash until the godling is flying along with them, then says "sorry, but it's time we headed to Myouren. And seeing as this boy can fly, I believe the trip will be quicker."

Starstriker sighs, ignores the trio's shouts as he casually tosses a translucent ball of light that slowly falls on the rabbit's hands, then shouts "look inside. It might give you comfort as to your friends' fates."

The poison youkai touches the boy's skin on his neck, making him scream when it starts burning, while the silver-haired woman with highlights shouts "stupid boy, don't go shooting stuff like that! You're in no position to be shooting anything!"

The muscled boy grunts, ignoring the screams of pain of Drake as Medicine's poison burns his skin some more, and says "look, it's time to go. Thanks for the drinks and the awesome party. Take care!"

As they leave, flying above the bamboo, the Lunarians, Earth rabbits and Moon rabbits wave and say their goodbyes while Mystia sings, and ignoring this, Tewi looks into the translucent ball.

In there she sees Zhinka and Kara jumping around clouds and taking food out of nowhere, cheering, laughing, enjoying the afterlife, then joining with other rabbits as they stampede around a massive field filled with flowers and natural beauty.

"He's stupid, but not exactly evil," casually says Toyohime after looking inside the ball.

Yorihime sighs and says "there might be a chance, if he learns how stupid he really is," to which Eirin immediately adds "but of course, he's an idiot. Chances are he'll vanish to nothing by the end of the week."

The girls all nod along the pharmacist, but Tewi remains staring into the ball as though in a trance, studying every possible aspect of the world she sees inside of it.

* * *

At the back of the Misty Lake, Kimi sits by the island's shore looking down to the water, staring at her translucent reflection, and remains as she is, as though lost inside her thoughts.

Reimu, Sanae and Ail stare at the shadow dragon girl from a distance, wondering if it would be safe to get close, and after thinking long about it, they nod and silently agree to leave her to her thoughts.

The moment they turn to the side, the shadow girl uncaringly says "it's alright, I'm not pissed. Just extremely bored."

"Sorry, we didn't mean to disturb you Miss Kimi," says the boy with a polite bow.

The shadow girl glances nonchalantly toward the boy, scoffs, then says "you didn't."

The red and white maiden steps forward, and asks "hey, are you alright? You're not still thinking about... you know."

The shadow girl shakes her head, then says "somehow, I'm feeling heavy. I want to sleep all day, even though I'm actually tired of sleeping. I don't want to eat either. I don't know what's going on with me, but I'm not thinking about death, so you can relax."

"Um, excuse me," nervously begins the blue and white maiden, getting the dragon's attention, and continues "perhaps you are just depressed about Kali's departure. Um, you know, you should do something to cheer yourself up. Think about something else. Something fun. Maybe going to the Moriya Shrine at the top of the Youkai Mountain and praying there."

Kimi turns her head toward her reflection again and notices it's a bit more solid, then sighs and says "perhaps you are right. Heh, I never thought a shadow like me could feel this. The Hakurei Maiden and her maid are right. It seems I do have a soul."

Ail smiles, suppresses a chuckle, even though it's not meant for ill, then says "I'm glad you figured that out. But Sanae-chan is right, you need to turn your attention elsewhere."

The Moriya Maiden nods rapidly, glad they all ignored her advertising for some odd reason, then says "say, why not help us find the ice fairy? That could get your mind off your sadness for a bit."

The shadow dragon chuckles, points backward to the left with her thumb, then says "no need. She's been watching us from over there the whole time."

"Darn it," exclaims Cirno as she reveals herself from behind a tick and tall bush, then throws her fists to the air while angrily exclaiming "how could you detect me so easily? I am the strongest fairy. You must have cheated!"

Reimu grabs the icy girl by the back of her shirt, smiles, then says "ah, Cirno. Just the ice fairy we were looking for!"

"What for?", defiantly asks the little girl as she flaps her wings, punches and kicks the air around her in a futile attempt to break free.

The dense boy gets closer, smiles and succeeds in calming the little girl down, then says "Cirno-chan, we need your help. I need you to use Perfect Freeze while I open up a gap, so that we can help Miss Reimu with a little problem. So what do you say?"

Before the fairy can answer, the red and white squeals and throws her prisoner away, jumps on the gold-eyed boy, wraps her arms around his neck to make sure they are close, then whispers "hold me for a little bit! No, make that an hour!"

Ail smiles, pulls her off and places her back on the ground, ignoring her complaining, then looks back at his girlfriend, whom holds her gohei-hand back from throttling the red and white, then says "don't worry. As soon as Cirno helps us, Miss Reimu will return to normal."

Sanae angrily points toward the middle of the lake, Kimi chuckles, then the dense boy sighs and says "and here come the complications."

The ice fairy stands on a frozen patch of water on the lake with her arms crossed and a cocky look on her face, and says "Ail, I like you, a lot, and you saved my life, and I would help you in a heartbeat."

She points at Reimu with her right hand and continues "but helping that cheating red and white I will not do... unless you play a game with me."

"Danmaku?", asks the Hakurei Maiden with a vicious glint in her eyes and needles on her left hand.

"**EEK! **Hide-and-seek!", shrieks the terrified fairy as soon as she sees the maiden's needles.

Kimi laughs her ass off, while the search trio stare at the little fairy in shock and disbelief, unaware of the clicks and flashes from a nearby tree.

Cirno continues "but, since I am the strongest and bestest at hide-and-seek, I will be the only one to hide while you three go look for me."

Ail looks at the shadow girl and asks "aren't you gonna play too?", to which the dragon chuckles and replies "no way. I'm watching this from a safe distance and laugh at your misfortune."

Reimu and Sanae know there is something this dragon isn't telling them, but they also know asking will be futile, so they just sigh and accept their fate, then the red and white says "alright, we'll play your game."

The ice fairy's eyes turn vicious, an evil grin takes over her face, and as she rubs her hands together she excitedly says "alright then. Let the game begin!"

* * *

The searching trio have placed their faces on their forearms against a tree and have just finished counting up to fifty, thus officially beginning the game.

All three eagerly look around the immediate area, but their smiles soon vanish when they realize Cirno has actually made an effort to hide well.

Large icicles scattered about on the lake, house-sized icebergs and ice cubes randomly set around and between trees, bushes and rocks, several ice platforms float all over the cold lake water, and above the whole area is Kimi Hong, looking amused as she observes the players.

Reimu smiles as she looks up to the dragon, then said dragon girl says "I'm not a snitch. You'll have to find her on your own like good little children."

The red and white chuckles with annoyance and says "geez, I didn't even get to ask," then takes a step forward, trips on a thin ice line, then all of a sudden a rope made of ice defies logic and physics by moving like a real rope.

It pulls on poor screaming Agava by the left ankle, striking her against several trees and bushes and missing striking Hakurei by an inch, then the rope breaks, like ice should, and sends the shadow youkai screaming to the air "what the hell just happeeeeeeen~", all while more clicks and flashes shower the area in several locations.

They stare as the mischievous shadow vanishes in the distance, then Ail sighs and says "wrong place at the wrong time, I guess."

Sanae takes a deep breath, nods to herself, then says "split up. We'll have a better chance finding her that way."

Reimu nods, says "I'll take the right side," then rushes to the right side of the 'game' field to look for Cirno.

The Moriya maiden shrugs and says "guess I'll take the left," and heads straight toward the icebergs and cubes to the left side.

Ail chuckles, says to himself "guess I got the lake," then promptly files over to the water and lands on one of the largest ice platforms.

The blue and white maiden searches each iceberg and large cube carefully, until she comes across a trio of identical small icebergs set between two tall trees.

She hums suspiciously, studies the area around her, then proceeds to approach her target.

It is very hard to see inside the three ice blocks, but after the maiden squints her eyes, she can see a small frame with six wings and a wide skirt.

She smiles and calls "I FOUND HER," then eagerly strikes the iceberg with her gohei.

It cracks slowly until uneven cracks cover the entire block, and it shatters as though its exploded from within.

Sanae shrieks but tries to grab on to Cirno's frame, then gasps and exclaims "wait, you're not-"

Before she can finish her sentence, Iku Nagae stands up, raises her shivering cold arm in the air, and several bolts of lightning strike the ground hard and make the maiden cry out in pain.

Countless clicks and flashes cover the whole scene as the shrine maiden is cooked by lightning.

From the lake, Ail clicks his tongue and shakes his head, then asks himself "how did that little ice fairy set this whole thing up in just fifty seconds?"

He gasps when he sees a small frame underwater, takes a quick-strike position, then plunges into the water, grabs the small figure, then quickly flies out with his catch on hand.

He holds Patchouli Knowledge, who wears a purple wet suit and some diving gear and looks incredibly annoyed, then stares at the curvy girl with magically impermeable hair.

When the dense boy notices he's holding the girl too dangerously close to the off-limit space near her ample chest, he chuckles nervously and asks "um, hey there Patchy. Um, er, what are you doing down there?"

The magician's red pulsating vein grows twice the size of her own head, she spits the mouth piece away, leaving it to dangle next to her cheek, then takes a spell card on hand, somehow, then beings declaring "Silent-"

As clicks and flashes surround the area, Ail quickly drops the librarian in the water, and the second he hears that loud splash he flies away toward the shore, avoiding getting caught in a circle of blue beams that rise from the water.

He lands safely on land, pants as his heart settles down, then he asks himself "what the heck was THAT all about?"

Leon approaches the dense one with several bumps and bruises on his face and wearing a blue wet suit, smiles, then says "I also touched my love, but she got mad with me."

The golden-eyed boy stares flatly at the light-blue haired boy and asks "so, what, er... What exactly where you two doing in there?"

The Kori boy smiles, then casually says "looking for some components needed for my love's experiment. She wants us to stay, so she's being extreme about it."

The little boy holds his chin as he ponders, then asks "hmm, I wonder why she was holding me so tight all the time and got so mad when I touched her?"

Ail laughs, pats the boy on the head, then says "I think that means she likes you."

Leon nods and says "oh, I agree. If not, I'd have ended up hanging by the toes in the dungeon, just like my sister's pet Koakuma."

Terror fills the dense one's face as he stares at the smiling boy, whom doesn't seem to understand the meaning of what he just said.

Meanwhile, Reimu continues her search, being as silent as she possibly can as she stalks the few icicles that look out of place between ice cubes and icebergs.

As she gets closer to the largest one to the left of a massive tree, she can hear a faint laugh coming from inside.

The maiden makes sure to sneak around as silently as possible and double-checks to make sure the figure inside is not looking at her.

She hides behind a bush when the figure stops talking, waits for it to stop moving and looking around, then resumes stalking her prey when it looks away and starts talking again.

Reimu crawls closer and closer to the target until she's right next to the ice, places a charm on it, taps it with her gohei, and it explodes so violently, even the scuba diving Patchouli peeks her head from underwater to see what all the commotion is about.

Cirno lies dazed in the center of the explosion, moaning as the world around her spins without stop, then the Hakurei Maiden calls "I GOT HER GOOD~", then lifts the fairy and holds her under the arms.

From a distance, Aya's voice can be heard as she says "aww, how lame!"

When the little fairy recovers her senses, she looks at Reimu in the eyes, scowls, then complains "aw, **come on!** Why did it have to be you? Why couldn't it have been Ail! I like him more!"

She looks up to the trees and angrily shouts "HEY, STUPID GIRL! I paid you to keep WATCH! What are you doing up there?"

Rumia peeks her head from the bushy tree, blinks her red eyes twice, asks "oh, is that so~?", then a washtub falls on Cirno's head, knocking her out on the red and white's hands, while Aya cheers from a distance ant takes more photos.

Ail and the sparking Sanae rush to the scene, right after the darkness youkai flies away to the sky, then cross their arms after seeing the unconscious ice fairy, glower at the maiden, then the disappointed boy says "oh, come on Reimu. That was just overkill."

The Hakurei Maiden stammers as she tries to explain it was Rumia, but sighs, slumps, then says "oh, whatever. I got her, so we can do this now."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Myouren Temple, Medicine, Luna, Kyo, and the still leashed Drake stand in front of the stairs leading to the main building, looking up with neutral faces, though the godling looks a bit on edge.

On the porch in front of the entrance to the building are Byakuren, Shou, Nazrin, Ichirin and Unzan, looking down at the guests, particularly the leashed god, with cold and stern faces.

On the roof, staring down with equally cold and stern faces, are Kogasa, Nue, and a whole bunch of fairies and random youkai.

Shou walks closer to the steps, is stopped by Nazrin before she trips on the first step, then loudly says "Kyo, Luna, Medicine, as friends of the temple we welcome you with open arms, but bringing that boy here with you begs to question your motives."

The muscled boy chuckles and whispers to his two partners "she's acting all high and mighty right now," then looks up at the tiger youkai and loudly says "sorry for coming here so abruptly you guys, but we thought today was a good day for making gods apologize, wouldn't you agree."

The Bishamonten representative clicks her tongue, snarls at the godling, then says "you do realize that... thing over there has committed several murders, including that of Ail, and made Rika Onkamikami, an ally of Lady Hijiri, break and drown in deep sorrow."

The poisonous youkai shrugs as though without care, points at the god's leash, then says "and that's why he got beat up like piñata and put on a leash like a dog."

Drake looks around the temple grounds and starts remembering what he did there, the things he said after being invited in and treated as a guest, and again his chest feels an odd sting.

The temple girls remain looking unconvinced, but all, including the visiting trio, are surprised then the god in training himself walks forward until he's three feet away from the first step up, and kneels.

He looks up to the girls and makes sure to look straight at Byakuren's cold eyes, then loudly says "Lady Hijiri, I have come here to apologize for my behavior during my prior visit."

The girls around the magician monk gasp and stare down with shock and surprise, but the Youkhrist remains silent and cold while the godling continues.

"I spoke my mind and tried to force my way of seeing things on you and your allies by force, and although I do not understand how can someone as pure as you can socialize with youkai, I do wish to apologize, in hopes that one day I may also understand the reason of your way of thinking."

The gradient haired woman continues her cold and silent stare at the kneeling boy, whom humbles himself further and bows his head as low as he can.

After witnessing this act, she softly gasps and softens her gaze, but remains stern as she says "you truly have much to learn yet. I will consider your words, but I will not accept them as long as you remain as you are."

The boy gasps and looks up with shock in his eyes, unable to believe this woman, denying him after he humbles himself in such a manner and begins to growl and snarl while facing away, yet remains silent.

Byakuren sighs and shakes her head, then says "tell you what. I'll consider and may accept the truth behind your words further if you apologize to the one you brutalized after soiling this temple with your harsh and thoughtless words."

The boy almost smiles as he looks at the woman, then scans the temple building until he finds Nue looking down at him from the roof, thus quickly remembering his hard fight with the girl.

His light smile vanishes when his gaze meets with the cold glare of the one that used the image of his Mina to frighten and try and murder him.

In his mind, he knows this is going to be hard, but it appears he will not give up, though his motives to doing this seem a mystery to all.

While the god and the temple inhabitants meet, far to the right on the grounds are Kyouko and Orange staring from a distance with their brooms held on hand.

"That looks interesting," comments the yamabiko youkai.

The orange girl smiles, then says "swimsuits," while staring straight at Byakuren.

Kasodani stares at the girl, takes two steps away, then asks "what the heck are you talking about?"

Orange sighs, smiles again, then says "this whole scene would be better if they were all wearing swimsuits. Heck, I'd be happy if it was just Lady Hijiri. She makes those look so **good.**"

The yamabiko girl flips her ears twice, raises her left eyebrow, then says "so what you are saying is, you'd do things to her, like touch her, play with her, hold her in your arms, and enjoy her company more, IF she had a swimsuit on."

The short shorts girl stares at her teal-haired friend, blinks, then says "no, I mean, this whole scene would look good IF they were all wearing them swimsuits, but I say Byakuren would look particularly stunning."

"Uh-huh," replies Kyouko while staring at her friend, then suddenly cups her hands around her mouth, aims it at the building, and shouts "**SHE'S A TOTAL LESBIAN! SHE WANTS TO DO THINGS TO LADY HIJIRI WHILE SHE WEARS A SWIMSU-ARGH!**"

Orange smacks her broom on the yamabiko's head repeatedly while shouting "YOU! ANNOYING! LITTLE! GREMLIN!", between each strike.

She winds up the broom over her head like a javelin and shouts "**I am NOT A LESBIAN!**", and throws her weapon with all her might, though misses miserably.

Shortly after the broom flies, a boy grunts out loud, then the arguing girls gasp and cover their mouths while watching as Drake pulls off the incredibly sturdy bamboo broom that is thrusts through his back and stomach.

Byakuren appears behind the girls, smiling while an ominous shadow covers her narrow eyes, punches both girls on the head and knocks them down on the ground, and while their new bumps grow and pulsate, the sweet lady says "please don't include me in your lesbian debates when there are important guests around."

The crying girls moan "hai," while lying on the ground with spinning eyes and drooling mouths.

* * *

Back at the Misty Lake, just as the sky begins turning gold, Cirno and Ail ready themselves to open the Icicle Sukima.

The nervous little ice fairy tries to keep herself stable, but her shaking body is becoming harder to keep still, and she hangs on to the half youkai's waist and asks "a-are you sure th-this is the only way?"

The boy places his hand on the fairy's head, and when she looks up to him he says "I am sorry to have to put you through this Cirno-chan, but it's the only way we can do this."

The little girl doesn't look too confident, so the dense one chuckles and says "tell you what. Stay behind me the whole time so that noisy rift doesn't bother you again."

Cirno nods eagerly, gets behind the boy, and sounding more confident, she says "okay, I'm ready then!"

"Hang on," calls Reimu, who stands next to Sanae in front of the boy and fairy. "Yukari isn't here yet, and you said she didn't teach you how to do that memory thing!"

Ail closes his eyes as though in thought, smiles and says "actually, yesterday, before I left for the mansion, she touched my forehead and did something. I didn't know at first, but she implanted the knowledge right into my mind."

Sanae raises an eyebrow and stares with doubt at her boyfriend, then looks at the red and white, and asks "can she really do that?"

The Hakurei Maiden shrugs, giggles and says "it's Yukari. I wouldn't doubt it."

The boy's face becomes calm and serene as he nods at the shrine maidens, then says "alright Cirno-chan. Do it."

The ice fairy lifts her spell card, then loudly declares "Freeze Sign, Perfect Freeze!"

Anilan immediately closes his eyes and focuses on Cirno's energy, focuses his own energy on it, moves the energy away so as to keep his promise to the little fairy, and with aloud *vwoom* the noisy gap opens up three feet in front of the group.

Reimu stares at the gap for some time before looking back at Ail and loudly asks "are you sure this is going to work?"

The boy, though still concentrating, smiles and loudly replies "trust me, it's going to be alright! Once you come out, you'll be your old self again, and any infatuation you may have had with me will be gone, like it never existed."

The girl's face hints sadness, even though she smiles, and thinks whether to go in or not.

Ail opens his eyes, looks straight at the Hakurei Maiden, and firmly says "Reimu, don't hesitate. You have to do this, for your own good, please."

The shrine maiden nods, turns to face Sanae and says "please forgive me for this," as she bows quickly, and before the blue and white or the dense boy can ask, the black-haired girl rushes to the dense boy, wraps her arms around his neck, and gives him the passionate kiss she's been wanting to give him from the start of this mess.

Aya, who hangs upside down from a tree, gasps and screams "**nooo!** Get me my cameraaaa!"

The Moriya Maiden roars as she goes for the attack, but the nimble Hakurei moves away and trips the girl so she falls on the boy's arms, then runs inside the ice gap.

Beams with blue borders and white centers fly out of the rift while she is inside, then it closes up and leaves Reimu standing behind it, looking a little lost and confused.

The dense boy taps the shivering Cirno's head to let her know it's over, gently pushes Sanae away, then walks closer to Reimu and asks "hey, Miss Reimu, how are you feeling?"

The red and white girl walks over to the gold eyed boy, stare into his eyes as though studying him, then quickly swings her left leg and lands a solid kick between his legs.

The boy falls straight on the ground, screaming "**UWOOOOOOOOO~**", then Sanae shrieks as she runs to her man and shouts "Reimu, what the **HELL** is your problem? Ail-kun! Ail-kun, are you alright?"

The green-haired girl glowers and growls toward the sky when Kimi's laughter reach her ears, then looks back at Reimu when the maiden pumps her fist in the air and excitedly shouts "**YYYYYYESSSSS~ **I am FREE! I'm not feeling anything for him! I'm **FREE** again!"

She covers her mouth when she gasps after realizing what she did, then casually says "oh, erm, sorry about that, Just wanted to make sure," all while ignoring the lamenting tengu girl who keeps screaming for her camera.

Cirno hands the blue and white girl a shard of ice, she gives it to her agonizing boyfriend so that he can subdue the pain with it, then all three glare at the smiling, shrugging red and white girl.

Kimi laughs so hard she ends up falling down hard on the ground, yet remains laughing as she stands up and walks to the group while saying "man, ha-ha, I wasn't expecting that! What a solid kick! I love that Hakurei!"

Reimu tilts her head and smiles as she says "thank you," while Ail grunts as he gets up with Sanae's help, then angrily grunts "that wasn't funny. This really hurts!"

Cirno scoffs, turns her back to the Hakurei Maiden, then says "that evil red and white should be more grateful Ail is her friend! He is too good for her anyway!"

The maidens, dragon and boy stare at the ice fairy with shock, but not one can think of the proper question to ask, or proper words to say in this case.

Meanwhile, Aya flies away with a disappointed face after somehow freeing herself from her bindings.

* * *

Back at Myouren, though most of the inhabitants have relaxed, and a few have even accepted Drake's presence, the one he needs to approach, Nue Houjuu, keeps avoiding him by jumping from one side of the roof to another, as though playing tag.

"Come on! Stop running away! I already told you I won't attack," shouts the godling after missing another chance to approach the nue youkai.

The short-skirted girl jumps away and pulls on the lower lid of her left eye while sticking out her tongue in a taunting manner.

Meanwhile, from the grounds below, Kyo and Medicine watch with amusement while the concerned Shou asks "so what if he decides to attack? Even with that leash, he could be dangerous."

The muscle-shirt boy chuckles and shakes his head, then looks at the tiger youkai and says "not a chance. He's severely weakened. Rika's and Tewi's denial of his godhood has left him almost as weak as Nitori."

The poisonous doll girl chuckles mischievously, then says "even his godlike regenerative powers have become questionable. He's no longer a threat."

The Bishamonten representative stares at the god on the roof of the temple, then sighs and says "and so, the mighty, shallow and self-centered moron has become a humble weakling. Then I guess his apology before was truly genuine."

Byakuren and Luna walk toward the small group from behind, then the Youkhrist says "that is correct."

When all eyes are on her, she continues "that's why I want him to apologize to Nue. I asked her to make it hard on him. I want to see how true his words are, and see if we can humble him a little more. Only then can we actually teach him where he went wrong."

Back at the roofs, the leashed god continues chasing after the undefined girl, while she keeps doing her best to avoid him and has taken to shooting a few magic arrows at him to keep him away, and watches his reaction to the attacks.

He just avoids them arrows as best as he can; going underneath them or swaying left or right; and continues chasing after the girl, shouting "just hear me out, dammit! Sit your butt for a second and listen. Nothing else!"

The short-haired girl stops after landing again, allows him to get five feet behind her, then turns around and stares with those red eyes of hers, making him stop.

Once he's standing still, she asks "you aren't going to attack after I attacked? You are acting weird. Didn't you attack me ruthlessly before, when I tried to kill you? Why aren't you attacking now?"

Drake sighs, pulls a desk from thin air and head-desks several times, then throws that desk away and anxiously says "I already told you, I want to make amends! I want to apologize for what I did to you, properly! I want to understand what I am doing wrong! I want to go back to Mina!"

"Oh really?", begins Nue as she takes a step toward the boy, then says "you do realize I might not be inclined to accept any crappy apology you might want to spew my way, right? I mean, you blew out my eye, opened a hole on my stomach, tried to assassinate me after I had already given up, and before all that, you threatened my living comforts by breaking Miss Hijiri into bits right in front of her home!"

"That's why I'm **APOLOGIZING!**", furiously replies the godling, then, after several deep and calming breaths, he calmly says "yesterday, and the days before that, I went around harming others, thinking I was doing the right thing, that killing youkai and dark beings would get me the faith of this land. I was wrong."

On the ground, Byakuren opens her eyes wide after a surprise gasp, then takes flight, promptly followed by Kyo, Shou and Luna, then all head closer to the undefined girl and the god.

Drake drops on his butt and pants as though exhausted and Nue gets closer to him, then sits three feet in front of him and says "continue."

The boy glances upward defiantly, sighs, looks toward the inner grounds of the temple, and says "I murdered those I judged to be of the darkness and nothing but evil, thinking I was making way to the light, and even though others told me how wrong I was, I blindly went on, forgetting my place as a god."

"**_When in Rome, do as the Romans do._** That's something I heard a while back, and forgot because of many harsh experiences on other worlds."

The nue and the god look eye to eye before he continues "in those worlds I visited before I was struck on the back by those of the darkness, even though they swore they were good allies. I got scared, just as Rika said, and decided I was going to aid the light, and nothing but. I guess my still being here, away from Mina, shows what a damned good job I have done."

The youkai girl raises an eyebrow, then hesitantly says "that's because you've been acting like a cowardly youkai... or a human, perhaps. N-not that I care about helping a murderer like you, b-but yeah, you need to relax a little. Accept the balance of light and dark. N-not that I would know of that crap."

As she turns her embarrassed face away, the boy chuckles and says "but you know, even with Rika, and those at Eintei; Tewi, for example; denying my godhood, humbling me to what you see, I still fail to understand how can beings of light and darkness coexists so harmoniously in this world. I still see dark beings as thieves, murderers, rapists, and light beings as sacrificed souls willing to serve others for a higher purpose."

"Even those that guise themselves in the light can be the ones at wrong. Did you ever consider that knowledge?", asks Byakuren from behind the boy, standing firmly on the roof with her arms crossed over her chest, and Kyo, Shou and Luna flying behind her.

The godling chuckles, nods, then says "yes. I've come across those as well. And now that I think hard about it, I realize I've been making many mistakes over and over."

The Youkhrist frowns, then says "if you can't learn the lesson, you'll just have to go back and take the same course over and over again."

The god in training gulps, turns his head away from the woman and her followers and lowers it, then covers half his face with his hand and mutters "what the hell have I done?"

He looks back up with surprise when a girl's hand with a black wrist band reaches for his own hand, then smiles at the blushing nue girl as she says "well, um, a-apology accepted then. B-but keep in mind that YOU started the whole thing."

Though he continues to smile, he raises an eyebrow after grasping her hand, shakes it, and says "you scared me half to death and thrust a trident in my stomach."

A vile grin grows in the blushing girl's face as she says "you wrecked my home."

Her face turns ever redder when Byakuren smiles and cups her hands over her chest and says "I knew Nue-chan liked this place."

The saint-like woman quickly grips the boy's hand, and with a stern face the says "alright. You have gotten her acceptance. It's time we head inside and speak like the **polite** beings we all are."

Drake nods, stands up, then Kyo grabs his leash and jokingly says "well, seems we really are making some progress today! Keep it up, and this leash might go off."

Shou giggles, her face gets covered by a deathly ominous shadow, then sinisterly hisses "don't raise his hopes just yet. I am still not convinced."

Even Byakuren shivers with terror at the sight of the tiger youkai's evil and sinister self, and gets a splash of nose blood on the face after said tiger sees her Lady Hijiri acting so frightened and adorable.

* * *

Moments later, in the temple's living room to the left of the foyer, Byakuren, Shou, Kyo, Luna, Nue and Ichirin sit around a short and long rectangular table with tea and snacks for all.

Medicine has her own plate of snacks to go along with her tea, so that she doesn't poison the rest of the snacks, and remembering the godling doesn't need to eat, nobody bothers offering him anything.

He sits next to the poison doll youkai with a calm look on his face, though wonders if it's really alright for him to be there after all that has happened.

Even though everybody looks so happy and not really paying attention to him, the godling feels uneasy and out of place, and so feels the best course of action is to stay as silent as a tomb this time around.

Too bad for him his plan is going to be crushed in just three seconds.

Nazrin drops from the ceiling and steals a cookie from Medicine's plate, takes a bite while running away, her insides burn up as soon as that treat travels down her throat, then Kogasa falls on top of Drake, knocking him on the table the second the mouse youkai falls, and earning him a deathly kiss from poisoned mouse lips.

"Whoa, what just happen?", asks the karakasa youkai before being flung to the air after the godling rises from the table and screams out loud while holding his swollen lips "**BUUUUUUUURRRRRNSSSSSS! It burns, it burns! OWWWWW~**"

Byakuren continues to smile while everyone else just stare awestruck, gets up with a spell card on hand, declares "Superhuman Byakuren Hijiri," then zips to the unconscious mouse and sits her in front of the poison girl, grabs the adorable karakasa girl in mid-air and sits her next to the mouse, grabs the godling and forces him to sit back down, forces a cup of water on his face, then returns to her seat before anyone notices she got up.

With everyone back in their seats as they should, and the awestruck people now totally dumbfounded by the sudden scene change, the gradient-haired woman raises a hand and says "and so, Drake Starstriker, it appears some hard blows finally opened your eyes, though I must say, those came far too late."

At first the god boy is unsure of what exactly happened at that moment, but disregards his own confusion, sighs and says "I now realize how foolish I have been. I wasn't gathering faith here at all. Instead, I was setting everyone against me, even after being told about it several times. I did an irreparable damage to that godly maid and earned her enmity, amongst other things."

The magician monk continues to smile as she places her chin on her hands while resting her elbows on the table and says "hmm, yes. You do realize Ail is a dear friend to us all, right? What you did to him as well is unforgivable to our eyes, but..."

"I'm sorry," whispers Drake while Byakuren stare at him and continues "but I believe your apology is genuine, and so I accept it. However, keep in mind that I do this, both because I truly believe you are finally doing the right thing, and because I want you to witness what being the higher person means."

The godling smiles lightly, nods, then says "I think I'm beginning to understand the meaning of that, now that my eyes have been forcefully open... my lady."

Kyo raises an eyebrow and says "well, he's showing he's got manners."

The god in training smiles again, chuckles softly, then says "I know this is hard to believe, but I'm not the psychopath you met before. Maybe it was my desperation for being up there with Mina, maybe gathering faith in such a one-sided manner affected my mind, but somewhere along the road, I lost who I really was."

"Let's hope the real you is less of an ass then," angrily spits Ichirin, surprising everyone, save Drake, and getting many surprised stares.

Even Unzan stares with a bit of surprise while the nun continues "I am sorry, but I cannot forgive him. He harmed Kyo-nii, hurt Rika-san, killed Ail, three people I can actually say I care about, and let's not forget the innocent youkai he has murdered, including that poor shadow girl."

Starstriker drops on the table as though having received a kick to the stomach, and after grunting and straightening up, he says "I, URK, understand."

He breathes in as though assimilating with some form of pain, and says "after what I did here, I am not surprised. I must be ready to be forgiven and accepted by some few, and denied by many, like you, Ichirin, and you, Unzan."

Shou sighs, rubs her forehead, then says "well, if Byakuren and Nue forgive you, then I guess I can too," then Kogasa chuckles and says "and after that tasty surprise I got from you, you can count on my vote as well."

Nazrin holds her stomach and her heard, groans, then says "I did not think that one through. And I didn't like your kiss, murder god," while Luna looks around, then asks "hmm, this is odd. Where is Captain Murasa?"

Byakuren chuckles nervously, then says "um, sh-she's busy. Er, I believe she went shopping somewhere."

At the entrance of Makai, the Palanquin lies on top of several crushed trees, and beside it are Minamitsu and an understandably upset Sara.

"For the last TIME! You can't park your ship there," shouts then angry Makaian.

"But the horned guy said I'd get a ticket if I parked it near the city," replies the captain.

"I don't care! You're crushing the trees!", desperately shouts the lilac-haired girl.

"Um, can I use them for lumber then?", asks the insensitive black-haired sailor.

"**HEY, THAT'S NOT NICE! DON'T BE SO INSENSITIVE,**" screams Sara while shaking her fists in the air.

"I'm going there and get me, Nitori and Julia some hot Makai swimsuits," comments the perverted Minamitsu as some drool dribbles down her cheek.

"Get out of here you pervert!", cries the understandably frightened Makaian.

Back at Myouren, Nue chuckles mischievously and says "yeah. She's probably shopping for dirty swimsuits."

Byakuren glares at the undefined girl, while Shou sighs as though in disappointment and says "she's so hopeless."

Drake, Kyo, Luna, Medicine, and even Su-San, all share awkward glances, even though none of them are sure of what exactly is going on.

Meanwhile, outside the shrine, Kyouko flies around and screams "it's not MY fault your boobs don't match!"

Small orange orbs fly a few inches above the yamabiko's head, then Orange flies toward the girl with her baton on hand and shouts "you evil imp! I'll show **you** what I can do! COME'ERE!"

The teal-haired girl shrieks and flies away, then the orange-haired girl throws her baton as hard a she can.

The little echo girl screams at the spinning rod and forces it to fly back to its master, but the short shorts girl yelps and moves to the side before the weapon strikes her head, and sighs with relief.

She looks up at Kyouko and shouts "you are so gonna get it now!"

The yamabiko looks down at Orange, sticks out her tongue, then says "talk is cheap."

There is a loud, skin-piercing thud and a grunt, the girls look back to the temple and dual-gasp while covering their mouths, then whimper and shout apologies by the dozens.

Out on the porch in front of the entrance, the Youkhrist face palms and sighs while Kyo and Luna stare forward with fright, and Medicine giggles while Su-San flies in happy circles.

The baton has somehow pierced through Drake's skull, and is now stuck perfectly centered between the godling's temples, and although no blood comes out, he looks pained at his host and guardians, then says "this really hurts like hell," and falls and tumbles unconscious down the steps to the grounds below.

* * *

Later that night, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu sits on the veranda with a wide smile on her face, with Suzaku observing her to her right.

The maiden takes a deep breath and says "ahh~ Feels good to be my free young self again. Though I must admit, I kinda liked feeling all giggly when looking at Ail."

The vermilion bird lets out a long caw like a sigh, then says "_mom, please don't forget all the trouble that mess caused. Anyway, now that you are free, perhaps you'd like to pay more attention to master. She needs all the warm and loving care she can get after all._"

Reimu looks at the bird and softly asks "warm and loving what?", then looks inside the shrine.

There, in the living room, sitting beside the short table with Rika resting her sleeping head on her lap, is Tenshi Hinanai with a blissful smile on her face as she gently combs the maid's hair, giving the girl the comfort she needs and causing her to flap her small wings involuntarily.

The Hakurei Maiden gasps and turns to stone when she notices how her maid rests so blissfully on that celestial's lap, then shatters to pieces and softly whines "she took advantage of the situation! I lost Rika~"

She somehow reconstructs herself in a second, points her accusing finger toward the blue-haired girl, and just before shouting her challenge, she notices the sexy maid's cute moans, blushes, then sits back down.

She crosses her arms over her chest and pouts, looks at the vermilion bird, then says "this isn't over. I'll get Rika back. Just wait and see!"

Suzaku stares back at the maiden, and is not really certain whether to chuckle, or sigh.

At Ail's house, the dense boy's gap opens up in the living room, and he, the sexy Moriya Maiden, and the leashed godling, jump out of the rift and it closes up immediately afterward.

The gold-eyed boy sighs and says "well, Medicine looked a little saddened about getting home."

Sanae giggles and says "well, she was having fun watching those two fighting at the temple."

Ail looks at the godling, then says "and say, I'm surprised. You turned around so quickly. I am impressed."

The god in training sighs, looks away, then asks "can you enlighten me about something?"

The couple look confused toward the boy, who says "before, when I looked at these youkai and saw the darkness in them, I wanted nothing more than to kill them and purify them, but today, after seeing Tewi, the way she looked every time she spoke of her friends, reminded me that every being, though different, share the same light deep within. However..."

He looks directly at the dense boy and says "I still don't understand! Please, help me learn, no, help me remember to understand how light and darkness can coexists so peacefully in this land, like my own home! Help me understand why that devil at the mansion was protected by **both** light and darkness."

He walks toward the window and looks at the trees, notices a rain of leaves as the wind blows by the night, then says "help me understand once again what I had learned so many long years ago; what I have forgotten to this very day."

The couple stare at the god with surprise for some time, then smile.

Sanae chuckles and says "so you finally figured out you can't be held back by common sense in Gensokyo, huh."

Ail nods, takes a quick breath, then says "and that is where we are going tomorrow, Starstriker. If after what I show you tomorrow doesn't teach you how wrong you have been, then nothing in this world will."

Drake smiles, nods, and says "then I am grateful, for today I have learned a lot of things I had forgotten. I guess all I needed was some humility struck on to me."

Ayalina appears behind the god boy, smiling ever so deceivingly sweet as she place her hand on the godling's shoulders and hisses "welcome baaaack."

Even the lovebirds feel the cold evil emanating from those words as the young-looking mother grabs the leash and gets closer to the boy in brown.

Her smile becomes more natural as she looks at her son and his girlfriend and happily says "Budou and Phredia are already sleeping, so please try not to wake them. Now I'll be making lots of noise inside my room, so you two can do whatever you want in here and I won't even notice."

Ail smiles though looks a bit confused as to the meaning of those words, while Sanae blushes beet red and looks away while saying "d-don't say such things please."

Ayalina's voice becomes a sinister hiss as she looks at the godling again and says "come now. You and I need to finish what we started~"

She pulls the terrorized boy to the room, and managing to hold on to the doorway, the god in training pulls himself with all his might and shouts "come on, save me already! ARGH!"

The boy is pulled in, the door slams shut, the couple stare at it for a moment, look at each other with surprise, turn those surprised stares into naughty faces, then embrace tightly while eating each other's faces with kisses, unaware; or perhaps they are; of the goddess-brand cameras taking zoom-in shots of their faces.

Meanwhile, in front of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gates, Meiling yawns and stretches, then says to herself "Sakuya should be calling me for dinner soon."

"That sounds like the good life," says Kimi from the ground at the right side of the gate, where she sits casually.

The gate guard gasps, jumps away, takes an offensive stance, and shouts "what the hell do you want? You better not be planning anything funny, or I'll be forced to kick you out of here!"

The shadow dragon scoffs and says "relax. I'm not here to attack."

Her cheeks turn a bit pink as she looks away and says "actually, I was wondering if it was ok for me to sleep here. Er, I mean, it's not that I'm lonely. It's just that underwater gets a little cold sometimes, and, um... you know."

The kind dragon youkai stares suspiciously at her shadow self for some time before relaxing and sighing her tension away.

After thinking carefully about her answer, she nods and hesitantly says "well, as long as you don't enter the mansion, you can stay there if you want. But remember, if you walk through those gates or over that wall, my lady and I will treat you like an enemy, you understand?"

The light-orange-haired girl smiles and nods, then says "understood. Don't worry. I swear on my honor, I will not attack you, and will just sleep here in peace."

Meiling seems to still have some doubts, but relaxes herself, stands in attention back on her post, then Kimi asks "so, ever done it with a girl before?"

The gate guard raises an eyebrow and asks "done? Done what?"

The shadow dragon grins mischievously and says "you know. Horizontal dancing, mattress mambo, rubbing parts, that kind of thing."

The innocent gate guard screeches as she steps away from the perverted dragon, and with horror tears on her eyes she shouts "hey! I thought you weren't going to attack me! That was dirty and low!"

The not-so-innocent girl lifts her grinning face to look into those beautiful teary aquamarine eyes, then says "I'm not attacking. I'm teasing."

Meiling gasps, then the nonchalant Sakuya, who is resting her arms and head on the wall above the dragon youkai while watching everything, casually says "that's right, she's only teasing you."

Ignoring the girl's cries of confusion, the maid points back to the mansion with her thumb and says "just get inside," then looks at the intruder and says "and you, please leave."

Kimi shakes her head and points at the sexy redhead, then says "she gave me permission to sleep here."

The chief maid sighs and says "I see. Then please be on your best behavior. My lady will not tolerate troublemakers."

The shadow dragon closes her eyes and lowers her beret, then softly says "don't worry. I swore on my honor to behave, and behave I will."

Sakuya stares with pity at the shadow dragon, but decides it's best not to think about it too much and jumps back behind the wall.

Kimi remains where she is, smiling confidently even though a sniffle and a tear escape her, betraying her tough demeanor and seemingly uncaring personality, when thoughts of her shadow friend cross her mind.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Ayalina, Kyo, Luna Rivers, Kali, Kimi, Agava, Julia and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Damien was created by Hydroviper

Special Appearance by Lester Wilson

NOV 1 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**And so ends this lol chapter. Hmm, I hope Drake's sudden turnaround doesn't seem too rushed. I was planning of dragging this out a bit more, BUT, I can't come up with something that would help with that, so I just went for it. Now, as you can see, Kali's death didn't just affect Rika alone. Poor Kimi hides her feelings well, and from here on, I should do something with her. Change her a bit maybe? Maybe just her looks. Make her look like her own character, and not just a dark Meiling. When I think about it, it's kinda lame...**

**Anyway, still having many net problems, so I'm not sure how long the next chapters of both I.S. and U.G. will take me (motivation gets sapped without net. It just sucks!) Oh, and a shout-out to the guys and gal at the Let's Danmaku forums. Miss sending random messages and sharing cute and sexy Touhou pictures. Anyway, take care all and see you next time, if the spirits will allow it and fix my net miraculously.**


	18. Chapter 18

The leaves on the trees around the Hakurei Shrine have begun to take a greenish-brown color, signaling the approach of autumn, and the dark rain clouds in the sky bring a cool breeze that is taking away the heat from summer.

That morning, Reimu, Suzaku and Tenshi find Rika sitting alone in the veranda, yet again, with the broom she used to sweep the grounds to her left, and the bucket of dirty water and the cloth she used to clean the porch to her right.

On her left hand, lifted above her head, she holds a golden necklace with small square plates that grow into longer rectangles as they reach the center, all separated with large, round, glass beads, though the one bead in the very center is stained in black, and she stares at it while lost in deep thought.

After a sudden scuffle, the Hakurei Maiden approaches the maid, clears her throat to get the angelic girl's attention, then casually says "my, it seems it's going to rain again."

"My lady," simply replies the maid before lowering the necklace and holding the center rectangular plates with her right hand.

The red and white smiles after crouching next to her maid, then says "it's very pretty. Where did you get that necklace from? It looks familiar, somehow."

Rika gulps and breathes heavily through her nose, obviously holding back a sob, then thunder rumbles softly as she says "it was a simple bronze necklace when she gave it to me. It turned gold in my hands, and this morning, it changed again, and now looks like this."

The hog-tied Tenshi bounces on her stomach to the veranda and says "I don't wish to be mean, especially to you Rika, but maybe you should throw that away. I'm getting some strange vibes from it."

"Quiet down you," spits Reimu before gently taking the necklace from the maid, and after observing it for a few moments, says "there is a strange energy around this, is true, but it's not bad. Rika, I suggest you treasure this. She entrusted this to you after all."

The maid's tears of happiness start rolling down her cheeks as she tilts her head to the right, where she's holding her hands together, stretches her wings and flaps them rapidly, then tackles her mistress with a cheek-rubbing hug while exclaiming "thank you my lady! Thank you so much! You are so kind and sweet!"

The bliss-tripping, giggling, happy-go-lucky maiden giggles like a young schoolgirl while holding her maid and taking all that sweet tenderness all for herself, thus earning herself a hateful glare from the hog-tied celestial.

Sounding like a drunk, the original armpit maiden reluctantly ends the sweet hug and says "erm, ju-jusht go to yer' room and resht," then wipes the drool off her chin, composes herself, and says "and take the rest of the morning for yourself, maybe pray to the necklace. It might help her during her journey to the other side."

Stars sparkle on the maid's eyes, a sight even Tenshi is enjoying blissfully, then bows to her mistress and excitedly says "thank you my lady! You are the very best!"

As soon as the adorable maid dashes to her room, the somehow-freed nosebleeding Tenshi approaches the double-nosebleeding Reimu, pokes her on the chest, and threateningly says "don't think I didn't notice Hakurei!"

"Notice what, exactly?", ominously asks the red and white, as she swipes her sleeve under her nose.

"You know exactly what," ominously adds the blue-haired girl, before getting on the maiden's face and adding "you're trying to set Rika against me, so that you can be the only one that can comfort her, but I warn you, I got my eyes on you."

Reimu smiles sinisterly, takes one step back, and just before Tenshi can ask, a black and white blur crashes right on top of the celestial and crushes her on the wooden floor.

Marisa and Hatate are holding each other by the necks and trying to dominate each other, while the witch shouts "I already apologize! Besides, it's not **my** fault your ass is so slow, sky hog!"

The tengu girl gasps, knocks the witch's hat off as she wraps her arm around the blonde's neck, and while rubbing her fist on the girls golden head, she angrily says "you're the only hog here, witch-bitch! I was, like, minding my own damned business when **you** crashed on **me** anyway!"

The girls start to bicker incoherently while bopping each other on the heads and creating a fight cloud right on top of the crushed celestial, and the Hakurei Maiden just watches with a casual smile and doesn't even bother to help.

Suzaku flies outside, grips the vertical wooden beam next to Reimu, skillfully balancing herself while doing so, and says "_mom, aren't you going to stop this? They're really hurting Miss Tenshi._"

Reimu chuckles casually and says "oh, let them have their fun. Besides, the celestial's tough. She can take it."

The vermilion bird coos as though sighing, and after thinking quickly, she flies back inside while saying "_alright, but if Rika-sama sees this, she's going to get very upset._"

The maiden smiles nervously as a sweat drop rolls down the right side of her head, then nervously grunts "dang, she's right," and after grabbing Marisa and Hatate by the back of their shirts and lifts them off the peach girl, she sternly says "alright, alright, break it off you two."

The fighting girls are full of scratches, their shirts are already a bit torn, revealing a cute small white bra on the witch, and a sexy pink bra with black frills on the tengu, and still they want to go at each others' throats.

Hinanai remains on the floor, slowly and shakingly raises her right hand, balls it into a fist, raises her middle finger, then grunts "y-you bitch. Th-that didn't hurt-AUGH!"

A yin-yang orb falls right on top of Tenshi's face, while Reimu head-butts the thrashing girls into submission, and casually giggles and says "it's like I'm surrounded by childish men today."

* * *

At the Forest of Magic, which is yet to have any significant changes due to the approaching autumn, everything appears to be peaceful at Ail's house.

A light drizzle falls from the clouds above, making a gentle symphony on the leaves and the roof, and the rain fairies cheer and giggle as they play around, enjoying the cool and moist drops from the sky.

The dense boy, Budou and Phredia, are enjoying a breakfast of eggs, vegetables, and for some odd reason, a side-dish of grapes.

The little bat youkai smiles at nowhere in particular and sweetly says "touch my grapes and you're dead~"

The front door to the house bursts open, and Sanae enters the house, loudly exclaiming "good morning everyone-boof!"

She now finds herself sitting on the pink house's red welcome mat, with the teal-haired bat youkai rubbing her cheeks on her mama's stomach, while cooing "mama Sanny~ Mmm, mama's so soft and warm!"

The shrine maiden chuckles nervously, rubs the little girl's head, softly asks "what have you been learning little one?", then looks at Ail, smiles, and says "good morning honey! Ready to go?"

"Sanae-chan! You're here early," comments the boy as he gets off his chair, and after getting to his girl and helping her up, they give each other a quick kiss, then he says "I'll be ready as soon as I go get Drake."

The Moriya Maiden stares at the dense one, blinks twice, then asks "where is he?"

While the green-haired armpit maiden pulls Budou off, the dense boy nods at Phredia and say "thanks for breakfast. It was delicious," then turns to his girl and says "he's still in mom's room. She said she'd be giving him some more during the night. Hmm, I wonder what she meant?"

Kochiya's face loses all its color when her imagination pictures the hot young mother lying on top of the murderous godling, whispering "not yet young man. You still need **more.**"

She starts to tremble while looking at her dense boyfriend, then stammers and chokes when she tries to ask the boy if he understands what he just said, but Budou calms her down when she says "yeah. She's been beating him up all night. I almost couldn't sleep."

After Sanae takes a deep breath of relief, the bat youkai begins to beep repeatedly.

The little girl pulls a small metallic rectangle with a screen on its face, and a flashing red LED light on the edge, looks at the screen just as it turns on with the press of a tiny grey button, then gasps and screams "ARGH! Rikako shot it! Rikako shot the missile, and while I was offline too! That CHEATER!"

Before questions can be asked, the little bat rushes to her room and slams the door shut, then beeps, music and explosions can be heard from within, almost instantly.

Ail chuckles and says "Nitori made her a machine that links to their game, so those kind of sneak attacks can't happen," then from within the room, the normally adorable little girl furiously shouts "KAGUYA, you cheating poo-poo head! We were supposed to have a truce!"

The couple stare in shock at the door, and chuckle while smiling nervously, then the boy says "let's just go get Drake," to which the sexy maiden just nods to.

They reach the door of Ayalina's room, the dense one knocks and calls "mom~ We're coming in~", and opens the door, even though the young-looking mother shouts "no, wait!"

Inside, the godling lies on his back on the nails bed, with his hands tied above his head, wearing only a white fundoshi and his collar, and with the young-looking flower youkai on top of him with her long whip on hand and with her face close to his.

Sanae's face turns blue, her eyes hide under her hair, single strands of hair pop around her all over head, her shocked smile freezes, though she's not happy, and it even seems that, as her skin and clothes turn white, cracks start appearing around her.

Anilan stares around casually, sighs softly after seeing the scene, then says "mom, seriously, it's time to go. Just leave him alone already."

The tortured god in training with a leash looks with desperate hope at the dense boy and cries "please, PLEASE, I'll do whatever you want, just SAVE ME!"

The shrine maiden turns her stiff, shocked neck to try and glance at her man in disbelief, unable to understand if her dense boyfriend doesn't notice all the wrong things in the room, including that wooden horse and the sexy woman in tight pieces of leather, or if he's just used to seeing that kind of stuff.

Either way, she remains silent, as Ail casually walks inside, and frees the godling, while his mother crawls off him with a disappointed look, pouts, and says "and I was just getting to the fun part. Oh well, I guess I'll torture him some more later."

Ayalina notices Sanae on the door staring at the wooden horse, then coos as she casually waves and happily says "Sanae, hi! I didn't notice you there. So, you like the wooden horse? I can teach my boy how to use it."

The green-haired girl can only shake her head and wave her hands defensively as an answer, to which the maroon-eyed woman just shrugs casually and says "your loss. It's much more fun that it looks. Makes things more interesting too."

The poor shrine maiden isn't sure if she's about to have a heart attack or not, but all she wants right now is to run away from that woman and her nasty toys, and take her Ail-kun with her before **he** starts getting curious about those things.

Her man appears to her left with a fully clothed Drake, grabs her hand, and softly says "come on, we're waiting for you," then looks at his leather-clad mother and says "alright mom, we're off. Budou's playing that game, and it seems Rikako and Yumemi are giving her a hard time. Do **NOT** permit her to use those curse words again."

The still-shocked shrine maiden stammers when she attempts to ask Ail if they can get out of there already, and at the same time ask him about the bat youkai, while Ayalina smiles whimsically, waves her fingers, and says "don't worry about a thing my child, I'll take good care of her. Just do what you have to do."

The dense boy nods, opens a gap behind himself and his party, pulls the still stammering girl and the leashed boy inside, then the gap closes up almost immediately.

Ayalina's smile becomes sinister as she remains staring vilely at the point her son, toy and maiden left, then scoffs and says "what a boring old man. Let the little one express herself. Cursing spices up life; makes it more fun for all!"

From the other room, Budou screams "why you **** little evil ****! I spend two million **** ***** gold on that tower!"

The flower youkai's smiles becomes ominously sweet as she cracks her whip once, then admits "but~ that's just going a bit too far. Sorry sweetie, grandma will have to spank you, and clean that filthy little mouth of yours."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gates, Kimi lies face-down and naked on a poorly-build bed, made out of roughly cut pieces of wood, and an old stained cloth.

On her right hand, she holds a pink rectangular object with a matching pink button on the center with numbers to the side of a silver knob, going up to ten, which is where the knob is set to.

She covers her butt with a white towel, though it's barely covered, and lets her hands hang besides the makeshift bed while resting her head and looking extremely relaxed.

"Um, are you sure I have to do this?", hesitantly asks Meiling, who holds a lilac, scented oil bottle on her left hand, while standing to the shadow's right side, looking almost disgusted, but at the same time blushes and pants softly with expectancy.

Kimi sighs, moans while contently shaking her head on the cloth, then casually says "oh, I am sure you have to. Unless, of course, you want to find out what this button does, which, I remind you, could make any kind of thing, or things, happen to you."

She lifts herself up just enough to let her lewd assets hang without revealing much, while keeping herself covered, though is uncovered enough for the gate guard to admire how that shadow's skin looks silkier than her own, and how that tight body is equally fit as hers, and just blushes harder.

The dragon girl grins while staring at that cute and sexy gate guard, looking up and down those curves under that green dress, and says "tell you what, if you do this for me, and I'm completely satisfied, I'll give you the best time of your life, and rub all those sore muscles of yours back into perfection. Still, if you keep hesitating..."

When Kimi lifts that pink remote and teases the button, Meiling's flushed face quickly turns pale, and she immediately rushes forward and begins to apply the oil on that hated dragon's back.

As she begins the actual massage, she can't help but notice that amazing shape, how smooth and tight that pale skin is, and how easy her hands slide over that gorgeous body, and thinks "_even without the oil, this skin is smooth as silk! How does she DO IT? Living in the wild for so long! I think I'm getting jealous!_"

The shadow girl moans contently, opens her right eye to look at the redhead's red cheeks, then teases "don't be afraid to go lower. I won't mind."

Somewhere over the mansion's surrounding wall, Sakuya records everything happening between the two dragon girls with a camcorder, smiling, blushing and drooling while taking zoom-in shots of Meiling's hand sliding around Kimi's back.

She chuckles and whispers to herself "_to think I was about to scold her for abandoning her post. This is definitely a very nice and unexpected treat._"

While she continues recording, the shadow dragon youkai moans loudly and contently says "you naughty little whelp."

The gate guard stammers nervously, then finally manages to says "wait, no, I just slipped! Seriously!"

The chief maid's drool is quickly accompanied by a sudden burst of blood from her nose as she whispers "oh, she got up," all while Kimi says "that's it, it's your turn now!"

The human girl's cheeks turn redder when the sound of tearing fabric reaches her ears, and Meiling cries "wait, noooooo~ I'm not ready for thiiiis!"

The silver-haired maid begins to pant, then says "I don't care if this isn't proper, I am loving this!"

Meanwhile, down at the library, Koakuma runs between bookshelves as though her life is in mortal danger, and keeps looking over her shoulders, causing herself to pant harder after almost tripping on another pile of books.

"You can't do that! I won't let you," shouts the cute little devil while sliding under a round wooden table with a white cloth adorning the top, and clutching the base to stop, and hides there.

As she looks around the library behind her, a hand casually reaches for her neck, and all the sexy redhead can do is yelp before dropping limp on the floor and moan in defeat, right after said hand grips her tight.

Lina smiles and coos contently as she picks her little pet up, and sets her face-down on the table, while casually saying "come on, you said so yourself. Your wings are sore, and I just want my cute little pet to be at her best."

Koakuma tries to lift her head as she opens her mouth to begin her argument, but all she manages to do is moan out loud "ahh-hann~ Oh, oh**HOOOoooOOO~**"

Her entire body twitches involuntarily and her face turns bright pink when the Kori girl's hands begin a gentle, tension-lifting rub on those stressed black wings on her back and head, while softly saying "there, there, it's no trouble at all. Just relax and let me work my magic."

At the same time, deeper inside the library, Patchouli sits with her back resting against her special throne-like red chair's backrest and moans softly, while Leon hesitantly asks "um, are you sure it's like this, my love? This isn't how the dragons or my sister are doing it?"

The purple bean sprout closes her eyes as she sighs, then says "you're doing just fine. Please, continue."

The boy's face shows several levels of unpleasant and confusion as he thinks "_but I'm not even touching my love's skin. How is this even working?**"**_

On his hands, he holds a hardcover blue book, and keeps rubbing the edges and spine of said book's cover, and looks mightily displeased while doing so.

The magician, on the other hand, looks relaxed and in a state of bliss as she watches the boy work his hands on that book, as though she's getting the massage herself.

To her right, on a small round table, is a crystal ball, where Kimi's blurred out naked figure can be seen forcefully rubbing Meiling's blurred out figure on the ground, then switches to Lina rubbing the now-blissfully smiling Koakuma's wings.

Patchouli sighs contently again, and with that light, but content smile on her face, she says "don't look so upset. Smile. Thanks to me trying to blast Ail yesterday, I found the water gem we needed. Now, all we need to do is wait for winter, so we can begin the ritual."

Leon stops his hands to give the magician a concerned stare, then softly says "my love, understand that if this doesn't work, I don't want you getting depressed. But do know, from the bottom of our hearts, Lina and I thank you for your efforts."

The purple-themed girl chuckles, even though a red vein pulsates on top of her hat, and says "this won't fail, I promise you that. Come winter, you two will be permanent residents."

There is a moment of silence between the two, and after some time passes, the librarian magician sighs and says "anyway, please continue with my book massage, ple-**ehe-AAAHHNN~**"

Without her notice, the Kori boy grabbed her foot, and is now giving her a surprisingly perfect foot rub, relaxing the girl to the point that she becomes a smiling lump on that large chair, and with a sly smile on his face, Leon slowly moves his magical hands toward the calf and says "as you wish my love. Don't you worry, you will be feeling like new after we're done."

Somewhere above the bookshelves, a pair of blurs move about with red dots glowing beside them.

Remilia is completely recovered in body, though still looks a bit paler than usual, and along with Flandre, they record the massage mania happening around the library, chuckling softly, and drooling at the lewd sights below them.

"I'm watching this with Sakuya tonight," whispers the elder Scarlet, then a bit of drool trickles down the corner of her lips and whispers "oh-ho-hoo~ He's going higher!"

From the other side of the library, the younger Scarlet whispers "onee-sama, how is it that we all have these hi-tech equipment here?"

Remilia chuckles to hide her nervousness, and says "um, better not be asking those kinds of questions, Flan."

After a shrug from the blonde, the vampires continue recording everything happening below them, unaware of the three-tailed nekomata glaring and growling softly at the cute young sister.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ail, the still slightly shocked Sanae, and Drake, arrive via-gap to the underground cave's entrance, where the blue and white maiden nervously asks "are you serious? You seriously didn't see anything wrong with that scene?"

The dense boy stares at his girl with curiosity, and says "well, I'll admit my mom is a bit weird, but I see nothing wrong with that room. It's just her odd decor taste taking another twist."

The godling stares daggers at the golden eyed boy, then says "you mean a SICK twist. Seriously, I still can't believe you didn't hear those hellish threats she spat at me!"

"Seriously, Ail-kun, even if this guy's a murderous butt-head, he doesn't deserve all of that," desperately adds the sexy girl.

Anilan smiles at the two as casually as if nothing, says "but she and dad used to play like that all the time, and whenever I did something bad, she'd smack me with that whip good," ponders for a moment, then asks "I mean, isn't that how families should be?"

The god and the shrine maiden join forces to stare at the energy-manipulator with shock and disbelief, then both just face palm simultaneously, and Sanae sighs and says "we're going to have a little chat later, honey."

"Wow, she's calling you honey," says a familiar girl's voice from above their heads the very moment they step into the cave, and as Yamame slowly descends, she continues "I've read somewhere that that's a good sign between couples... though I can't remember where."

The upside-down blonde spider youkai gets close to the ground before flipping over, and lands on her feet in front of the visitors, then smiles at the dense one and says "welcome. Geez, it's been a while! I thought you had forgotten all about us."

Ail rubs the back of his head as he blushes and chuckles nervously, then says "I'd never forget you guys. I've just been very busy these days. And, um, I don't think you would have wanted me here before."

The small party begins their walk deeper into the cave, while Sanae adds "yeah. He wasn't himself a while back. He could have done something so stupid, that it would have made you all mad at him in a flash."

As they walk further into the damp and moist cave, having a casual conversation as the dense one and the youkai catch up, Kisume keeps watch on them while keeping herself hidden in the dark ceiling, frightened of the two new visitors, yet continues following after them out of curiosity.

They reach a small pile of rocks that separates the dry part of the cave, from the section where the small river begins, and Yamame stops, turns around, points at the god in training, and says "I forgot to ask who is this quiet fellow over here."

"Oh, right," begins the dense one, before pointing his hands at the boy in brown and says "this is Drake Starstriker, the guy I told Miss Satori about."

An ominous shadow covers the blonde spider youkai's eyes as she smiles at the godling, then casually says "ohh, so this is that guy that let you, and everyone out there **have** it without **deserving** it."

The shrine maiden nods and casually says "yup, that's the one. Don't worry, he's subdued now," while the spider girl wraps a deceivingly friendly arm around the godling's shoulders, and smiles vilely.

Drake can feel some bad vibes coming from that friendly blonde, who lifts up to the air with him gripped around the waist, and says "come on, let's fly so we don't get all wet. Oh, and let me take care of Mister Drake for you two. You go ahead and hold each other instead."

Sanae and Ail smile at their gracious host, bow, then the dense boy says "thank you Miss Yamame-san. You're as kind as ever," while the god nervously whispers "help meeee."

The loving couple take flight, while giggling and holding their hands, then speed off before the spider youkai and her new 'friend'.

Starstriker would love nothing more than to call Ail for assistance, but he quickly starts feeling very weak and tired, and upon looking at the blonde's ominously smiling face, he knows he is being poisoned again.

When the two love birds start giggling and talking amongst themselves, Yamame's smile vanishes, glares with hatred at the godling, then says "I don't know what the hell your problem is, but you harmed someone we like down here. I mean, it's not often Satori enjoys talking with someone that actually **enjoys** talking to her as well. Not to mention, he treats all of us like equals. Sort of like that red and white."

"But I already apologized for that," weakly says the boy, whom finds it hard to lift his head and make eye contact, but regardless of that, bravely asks "wh-what did you do to me?"

The spider's voice comes out dark and cold as she says "I have the ability to manipulate diseases, and I have just given you a mere cold, because I don't wish to upset Ail now. But you listen, and you listen good. If I even hear a whisper of you causing trouble down there, I'll take this physical body of yours and take it for one hell of a ride. You got that?"

The weakened godling manages to nod, then, with great effort, grunts "you have. my word. Lady Yamame. I will. behave. properly. as I should have. from-from the start."

The brown-eyed spider stares with surprise at the boy and softly says "so polite," then her smile returns, and Drake begins to feel a little stronger as she says "well, I'm surprised. Word is you tend to talk back a lot. Seems you have changed for real."

The boy manages to smile, though is unable to lift his head or speak while he recovers, so he just flips his thumb up.

Yamame grins, and says "I stopped poisoning your body, so you should be feeling alright in a few minutes. But remember what I said. Don't upset Satori, or anyone down there, or I will strike you with my worst disease."

After just a couple of minutes, and a few killed fairies that got in the way, the group reach the hole leading down to the bridge that reaches the Ancient City.

Kurodani places the god in training on the ground, where he inspects himself and tests his returned strength, and says "Satori will be waiting for you, so please don't make her wait too long."

Ail, who still holds Sanae's hand, does a two fingers salute and happily says "don't worry, we'll get there in time. And Miss Yamame, thank you for your help."

The bashful blonde smiles as her cheeks turn a little red, and says "aww, you don't have to thank me. Just be safe down there, and make sure not to get into trouble."

After a couple of nods and smiles, and a polite bow from Drake, the trio jump down the hole to begin their long descent to the underground world.

* * *

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu stomps hard on the veranda, while fuming and muttering to herself "annoying, selfish brat for a celestial. Stupid. At least I won't get sweaty."

On the backyard of the shrine, Tenshi and Rika stand in front of each other, with said celestial holding a movable wooden dummy, and the angelic maid wearing her fingerless gloves and holding her family sword with both hands.

The red and white maiden sits down hard on the wooden porch, stares angrily at the blue-haired girl, then takes a deep breath before shouting "I hope she smacks that peachy bottom of yours, tender girl!"

Rika stares curiously at her mistress after the sudden comment and tilts her head left, while Tenshi glares at the maiden and discreetly flips her middle finger.

The adorable shrine maid waves her wings slowly as her imagination plays out the image of her dear friend's butt being a tender peach she uses for bouncing on the floor, then all of a sudden, begins to laugh hard.

Tears form under her eyes as she holds her sides, while the mental image of her friend shakes her hips and says "jiggle-jiggle," then the maid's laughter becomes louder and heartier.

After almost two minutes of incessant laughing, the angelic girl slowly composes herself, coughs out a few more laughs, takes a deep breath, then looks at her mistress, and says "oh my goodness, my lady, thank you so much, tee-hee. It felt so good to laugh like that. You are the greatest, Miss Reimu!"

Hakurei blushes pink when seeing that red-faced smile and those slowly flapping wings as the maid's gratitude reaches her, then giggles, waves her fingers, and says "heheh, any time my dear. I just want to see you happy, like always."

"Aww, and you're just as kind and as loving as ever, my dear lady," replies the maid with a bow, while Tenshi, unsure of what exactly happened, grits her cracking teeth, while shooting dirty jealous looks at the shrine maiden, without letting her friend take notice.

Shortly after, the girls begin training, and while Hinanai asks the cute maid to attack harder and said girl insists it's too dangerous, the armpit maiden enjoys some tea and dumplings on the veranda as she gazes flatly at the training girls.

Rika swings her sword so slowly, when it touches the dummy, it just taps it so gently, it doesn't even make a sound.

Tenshi just sighs and says "come on, hit it HARD," then sighs and moans when her friend lightly taps the training dummy's arm.

"It seems you got some heart points from your maid," says a girl from behind the shrine maiden at the veranda, who continues "well I hope you don't mind if I try my hand at getting some for my own."

The shrine maiden turns her stuffed face back, and casually nods at Youmu, as some form of half-assed greeting, then turns around again to look at the odd and slow training session.

"Jeez, what the hell kind of greeting was that?", angrily asks the half ghost girl, whom after sitting next to the shrine maiden, somehow has a mug of tea as well.

Though Reimu tries to ignore the unwelcome guest, yet she can't help but feel her presence, so after a heavy sigh, the armpit maiden asks "so you are here to cheer up Rika after finding out about what happened at the mansion, right?"

Konpaku raises her left hand, and reveals a small sack with a few bottles of sake, red meats, and ingredients for curry, which the Hakurei Maiden promptly accepts, then happily exclaims "please don't overdo it. She's still a bit sore."

Youmu smirks, stands up, casually says "don't worry. If nothing else, this should at least distract her for a bit," then makes her way toward Rika and Tenshi.

The silver haired girl raises her left eyebrow when she looks upon the soft swings and even softer strikes of the maid's sword on the movable dummy, and while looking at her ghost half, she says "boy, she's really gotten it bad. Look at her. Those swings lack strength, passion, resolve. It's like she's not even trying."

As soon as Youmu approaches them, Rika easily stops her half-hearted attacks, then Tenshi, knowing what's coming next, groans, drops the dummy, then says "I give up. I'll just be over here, cheering for you!"

The maid stares at her heaven friend, raises her hand to address her, but before she can ask what's wrong, the half ghost taps the maid's waist to get her full attention, and says "you're back into a depression, I see."

The girls look into each others' eyes for some time, then the angelic maid covers her mouth, gasps, takes a step back, looks shyly to the ground, then says "no, Miss Youmu, I can't. Not today, please."

The silver haired girl places her hand on Roukanken, the large sword, and coldly says "Rika, don't dishonor yourself as a swordswoman. I am challenging you, and you will accept, like always."

The hesitating maid looks away as she sheathes her sword, so Youmu clicks her tongue, decides to go for the low blow, turns around to make as if she's leaving, and says "I understand. I am so pathetic to you that you would rather dishonor **me** by ignoring my challenge and turning away from me like that. Well, I'll leave then. Goodbye Rika Onkamikami. We'll ne-"

"WAIT, WAIT! I didn't mean to dishonor you, Miss Youmu! I'll do it," exclaims the kind maid as she reaches for the fake-saddened guest's back, who discretely pumps her fist and cheers under her breath.

Meanwhile, on the shore at the lake behind the shrine, Suika and Genjii cheer, Suzaku keeps squawking, as though trying to draw attention to her, Aya drools, blushes and smiles wide as she takes several photos, and all because on the ground, Marisa and Hatate are shredding their clothes and their dignity by participating in a crude catfight.

The brown-haired tengu wraps her gorgeous pale legs from behind and around the witch's neck, chocking the poor girl while shouting "give it up! Admit you're an air-hog and I'll, like, let you go!"

The black and white grips those soft and squishy thighs tight until the crow tengu screams and releases her, then jumps on said tengu, gets on her back, locks the crow girl's neck with her arms and pulls back, then angrily says "you weak little shut-in, I'll rip your neck off if you don't submit!"

Hatate elbows the witch's ribs, rolls on the blonde's back, squats, pulls those scrawny human arms on to her own knees, pulls her chin up, then says "just because you drank that potion doesn't mean you'll beat a tengu, you cheating witch!"

Marisa summons inhuman strength to her and rolls with such force, she ends up on her feet and behind the tengu, pulling her arms back and threatening to break that shirt as those ample pearls keep being forced forward.

Noticing this, the ordinary magician growls furiously, muting the crow girl's own grunts and groans of pain, then mutters under her breath "let's see how far that shirt will stretch before they **pop out!**"

Very suddenly, the fighting girls grunt and roar out loud, and the spectators, even Aya, stop cheering and moving, and just stare with their mouths agape, while the sound of fabric being ripped to pieces vibrates all over the lake.

"U-hu-hu-huu~ This is so **HOT**," exclaims Shameimaru after her cheeks turn bright pink, along with Suika's, Genjii's, and surprisingly enough, Suzaku's cheeks, then the black-haired tengu raises her camera and begins taking pictures again.

Marisa angrily shouts "you'll pay for that! Those were my favorite clothes!"

Hatate Furiously shouts "you pathetic little human, look what you did! That underwear isn't cheap!"

There is a loud splash; the fighting girls resume their fight in the middle of the lake, where they grapple each other any way they can, and causing all, but Suzaku, to bleed violently through their noses, especially after several slips and slip-ups from either girl after a failed, or slipped grapple from either.

And so the spectators risk suffering massive blood loss, though doing so with a big and blissful smiles, as they watch those two gorgeously shaped, pale, silky bodies struggling around, inside the lake's water.

* * *

Back at the underground, at the entrance to the Ancient City, Ail sighs with disappointment after crossing the empty bridge, but regardless of that, points at the city streets and says "welcome to the Ancient City of Former Hell, Drake Starstriker."

The godling twitches, gasps, chokes, grabs the dense one by the shirt's collar, screams "FORMER HELL!", then more calmly, shouts "why did you bring me to hell? Ail, this is not funny! Seriously, I don't belong here!"

The freaked-out boy suddenly smiles, sighs, slowly drops to the ground, revealing Sanae behind with her hand gripping the air in the same manner she was gripping the godlin's neck, then stares at her boyfriend.

With an ominous shadow over her eyes, and a deceivingly sweet smile on her face, she asks "and why do you look so disappointed, Ail-kun? Is that green-eyed blonde so special?"

The boy sighs sadly, then smiles at his girlfriend and casually says "Miss Parsee was one of the first people I met when I came down here the first time, and I was kinda hoping to say hello to her. Oh well."

The shrine maiden calms down after hearing him call the jealousy youkai 'Miss', knowing that means the girl in question is just a friend, then holds her confused man in a light hug from the back, and says "don't worry Ail-kun, we'll probably say hello to her later."

The dense one taps his girl's hand gently, grabs it and kisses it, then says "you're right Sanae-chan, we'll probably see her later."

As they begin the walk into the city, Anilan grabs Drake's leash and effortlessly pulls the boy along, while casually saying "come on Drake, we have to reach the Palace of the Earth Spirits, or Chireiden, if you will, before lunch time."

And so, unable to resist in any way, the god in training grunts as he tries to get on his feet, while being dragged toward a city that used to be part of an old hell.

Just as the trio reach the restaurants and shops area, right in the middle of the city, where there are already many oni, youkai, and evil spirits glaring toward the guests, the stupid god loudly says "please, let us make haste! This place is a nest of evil!"

The golding is forcefully pulled by the leash, and even Sanae looks shocked with surprise when Ail winds his head back and head-butts the foolish god on the head so hard, the supposedly holy one sees bright stars for almost thirty seconds before regaining his sight.

While Drake recovers, the golden eyed boy pulls him by the collar of his shirt and angrily says "watch you damned mouth, you idiot! This is the Road to the FORMER Hell, not Hell! These people and spirits live in harmony, away from judging eyes like yours. Sure, they aren't perfect, but you tell me what place is!"

Starstriker stares in shock into those golden eyes, lowers his head and mutters "um, sorry," while the dense one furiously says "louder! These people deserve an apology!"

"Sorry, I'm sorry, jeez," nervously spits the god in training, and almost immediately after, all the glares and suspicious glances become friendly and curious stares.

The tension in the group slowly lessens, and as the dense boy releases godling, the blue and white shrine maiden flaps her hand near her face, and sounding impressed she says "wow, Ail-kun, you're amazing. I never expected you to react like that."

The dense boy sighs, lessening the anger inside himself, then smiles lightly at his girlfriend as he says "well, I've spoken a lot with Miss Satori, so I know a few stories of the youkai here. And I'll be damned if I allow **someone** here make them feel uncomfortable around us due to judging."

He shakes his head as he picks the leash again, looks at Starstriker, then says "they don't need crap like judgment down here, and we don't want to be on their bad side."

The god on a leash pouts like a scolded child, and lowers his head in shame while muttering "um, I'm sorry. I l-lost my head there."

The enamored shrine maiden wraps her arms around her man's neck, and rubs her cheeks against him and coos very contently, then the boy turns his face to kiss that cheek, turns it again to address the godling, then says "come, let's get out of here. That way, both of us will be at ease sooner."

"Hey~, it's Ail! It's been a while, mate! Say, who's the dog on a leash there? Did the shrine maiden summon him or something?"

The group turn to the right to face the tall, blonde, single-horned oni girl approaching them with her usual red sake cup on her right hand, and a sturdy-looking grey gourd hanging on the left side of her waist.

Anilan smiles at the sight of the woman, waves as she approaches them, and says "Miss Yuugi, hi. You're looking well," then becomes a little more stern when he looks at the leashed boy, and says "Drake, this is Miss Yuugi Hoshiguma, a friend! Miss Yuugi, this is Drake Starstriker, and I believe you know Sanae already."

The tall oni chuckles while waving at the green-haired girl, then looks at the god in training, a shadow is cast over her eyes, and with a dark smile on her face, she says "oh, so this is that god guy from the newspaper. I've been DYING to meet him in person."

She takes the leash off the dense boy's hand and says "come, I'll go with you to the palace. I'll walk him for you if you want."

The Moriya Maiden giggles and says "oh, that's wonderful miss oni. Thank you," then giggles more playfully when turning her attention to her boy, and makes sure she's pressing her soft womanhood against his back while playfully whispering "more time for ourselves."

While the two love birds move ahead, Drake can't help but feel the cold chill of fear course through his body, as the seemingly friendly oni gets closer to him and asks "so, how can a weak little thing like you be a god? Seriously, you're so scrawny, compared to that mountain goddess of ours."

The godling is nervous, and gets even more nervous when that woman places her hand on his shoulder, but he hides his upset state by casually answering "um, well yes, I've done some... foolish things, and seems I am paying dearly for them, and it's going to take time to- ARGH!"

Yuugi stares at the god-in-training with surprise as he screams and rolls forward, blinks twice after the inevitable loud crash, then says "boy, I am really surprised you did all that stuff up there. I mean, I just tapped your shoulder and you fly off like a mere twig. How exactly did you kill my buddy Ail, being so weak like that?"

Starstriker lies upside-down with his legs above and his back lodged against a cracked solid stone wall, manages to re-arrange his neck on the ground to look at the oni girl, then grunts "like I said... I've done bad things... and got weaker."

Hoshiguma smiles and nods, picks his leash and pulls him back on his feet, then, as they begin their walk, she happily says "well, at least you still heal like a god, so there might be hope for you yet," then sinisterly adds "and that also means you and I can have some fun with you."

The brown-eyed boy knows damned well he is in deep trouble, but all he can do is whimper, and pray to other gods for a miracle, or for Ail or Sanae to take his leash, though either hopeful thought seems like are just that; thoughts.

* * *

As they make their merry way toward the underground's mansion, the lovely couple continue holding each other close, whispering to, and making each other giggle, while the cheerful oni swings the god by the leash, humming happy tunes and asking "having fun yet, murderer boy?"

The godling's reply is a constant scream and sudden chokes as he is swung around like a child's toy plane, and now he feels as he is being twisted and swung at the same time, just before the blond woman exclaims "hey~, it's like a big yo-yo!"

Ail and Sanae stop, finally turn around, to the murderous god's relief, then the dense boy casually says "I think he's had enough, Miss Yuugi. Maybe you should cut down on the torturing."

The oni woman chuckles as she pulls Drake back to her, he falls upright with her arm around his shoulders, as if they were great buddies, then says "alright Ail-boyo. Though do note I was just having some fun with him."

She rubs his hair hard with her hand, and says "after throwing him around so much, it is clear he truly is sorry for what he did, and I kind of like him a little more now."

The blonde suddenly tightens her arm around the god in training, threatening to crush him, and in a dark tone of voice, she says "but he **did** say some really nasty words back there. I wonder if he's sorry about that as well."

Out of breath as that powerful oni arm crushes him, Drake manages to grunt "yes. I'm sorry. for saying. all of that."

He breathes and coughs as oxygen graces his lungs once more, then looks up at Yuugi with apologetic eyes, and says "I am still on the path to recover myself, and spoke without looking around, or thinking carefully of my words. I apologize for being so judgmental, and promise I will better myself."

The tall woman stares down with surprise at the godling, then smiles and cheers "well, that was a very nice apology," then playfully pats his back, sending flying several feet, face-first to the dirt road in front, and cheers "now I'm really starting to like ya!"

"What? You already like that creep! But it took you five hours to start liking **me!** What's the deal?", exclaims a very familiar voice hiding on an alley to their rights.

Ail gasps as his lips stretch into a smile, then exclaims "Miss Parsee! There you are! And here I was worried I wasn't going to see you today! How are you?"

The green-eyed blonde youkai of jealousy reveals herself from the darkness of the shadows, wearing a white shirt and brown shorts, and glaring at the odd party with envy, then blushes as she says "yeah, whatever. Umm... hello Ail," then turns her glare to Drake, and asks "and who the heck is this bozo anyway?"

For some odd reason, Sanae has wrapped her arms around the dense boy so tightly, his face is turning blue due to lack of air, thus is unable to answer.

Noticing this, the blonde oni grabs the god by the waist, helps him up, so that he can see the green-eyed girl in the eyes, then says "this is that Drake Starstriker fellow Satori's meetin' today. You know, the one on the newspaper."

Fire rises from the jealous one's eyes as she directs her gritted teeth toward the boy, and says "that murderous bastard that broke my window with his face?"

Yuugi, pulls the godling closer, and whispers "the paper boy broke her window with the paper that had your picture this morning. Now she's going to pin the blame on you," then straightens up and cheerfully says "yup, the very same one! Come say hello!"

"You're not helping!", exclaims the god in training, bracing himself for whatever kind of punishment might befall him, but after waiting for about six or so seconds, he realizes nothing's happened.

Instead of attacking the boy, Parsee walks over to the tall woman, and asks "and what was that all about just now? How can you like him? He broke my window! You should feel sorry for **me**, and angry at **him!**"

The oni woman chuckles, then says "why? I already fixed that for you, while you were changing and complaining about your bra size."

The jealousy youkai's face turns bright red and her eyes hide under her blush, while she shouts "you pervert! Perverted oni! How dare you! Taking advantage of me when I'm so vulnerable!"

The single-horned woman points at her friend, and happily says "hey, that's the same face you made the first time we met."

The blushing girl turns around and asks "and how would you remember that?"

Yuugi pulls our several white squares from her pocket, and casually says "look, I got the pictures right here. See? That's the same face."

Parsee gasps out loud, then exclaims "wait, who the heck took those? And why don't I have copies of those?"

"Of course you don't. You told me burned the album I gave you, remember?", casually replies the tall oni.

The short blonde twitches, bites her thumb, then hesitantly lies "um, er, I, um, don't remember that! I-In fact, I don't remember ever getting an album either!"

Yuugi laughs, then says "now, now, I can always ask for more copies, but you shouldn't lie like that."

The jealous girl gasps hard, then begins to argue so fast, her words sound like blabbering.

Drake watches on with an unamused and bored flat gaze, then a high-pitched voice from down to his right says "alright, we better get going. They aren't stopping any time soon."

The golding looks down, and sees Ail's aura in a small brown cat with black stripes on the torso, large ears, bulgy golden eyes, a pink nose, and wearing a miniaturized replica of the dense one's clothes, then asks "wait a minute. I-is that you... Ail?"

The dense one sighs, then says "I couldn't get away from Sanae's grip, so I had to cheap-shot her," then points toward the road.

The blue and white shrine maiden lies on her back, with a flushed face, a blissful smile, and blood fountains rushing out her nose, somehow defying logic and gravity to spray upward.

The brown-eyed god looks at the bickering blondes, then at the little cat-Ail, then as Sanae, then back at the dense one, then at the blondes, and before his mind turns to a puddle, the cat-boy casually says "don't think about it too much. You might hurt yourself if you do."

In a flash of light, Anilan becomes his usual human self, picks his girlfriend off the ground, who blissfully whispers "those soft ears twitched," then turns his head back at the god and says "come, or would you rather have me take your leash?"

Without any hesitation at all, Drake grabs his own leash, then rushes straight toward the dense boy and the girl, then the tree continue their walk toward Chireiden.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hakurei Shrine, Marisa sits between Reimu and Suika, and shivers violently while covering herself with a large white towel, which is helping her keep her wet and naked body warm.

She sniffles and gags, then looks to her right to glare at Hatate, who sits between Aya and Tenshi and is also glaring at the witch while wrapping herself in a large brown towel, which slips of just enough to reveal she's also naked, and still as wet as the blonde.

Both girls are full of scratches and bruises all over their torsos, limbs, faces, and unmentionables, yet seem both are ready for round two, which would take place right there, if it weren't for their friends keeping watch, and the shrine maiden's seals on their butts.

The normally black and white witch looks at her red and white friend, then angrily mutters "I would have won if Rika and Youmu hadn't stopped us. Stupid paparazzi chicken."

Reimu sighs, rubs the bridge of her nose, then angrily says "you indecent girls aren't allowed to talk, so shut up, or I'm stuffing my socks inside your mouth."

Marisa immediately bites her own lips, then looks toward the shrine's back courtyard, where the ringing of swords comes from, while the Hakurei Maiden thinks "_so, you really have no idea on how I can score a few more points with Rika? I hope you're not siding with that celestial._"

Suzaku stands to the maiden's right, with a plate of some half-eaten dango on the floor in front of herself, and as she takes a bite of her spicy meal, she says "_mom, my real interest is master Rika's mental health. Right now, whether you believe it or not, her mind is piecing together some encouraging thoughts, and thanks to Miss Youmu, I think that process is accelerating._"

The maiden sighs, looks to the ground, says "yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm acting like some sort of brat. Ugh," then sighs loudly and thinks "_then I guess I'll just watch her, and make sure she remains as content as I can make her feel._"

Suzaku tweets contently, flaps her wings once, then says "_that's the way to think, mom. Please remember that master is loyal to you, and she will always be. Now, let's watch. I think they're about to get serious._"

Right after the bird finishes her telepathic sentence, from within the magical and secure arena taking most of the grounds at the back of the shrine, Youmu sighs with satisfaction, then says "that's enough warming up. Come, and use that technique you were trying so halfheartedly before."

Rika twitches, then asks "wait, how did you take notice of that? I wasn't even trying when you came here!"

The half-ghost closes her left eye in a wink, grins, then says "you forget, I am constantly honing my own skills as a swordswoman, and by the looks of things, you do too, so stop hiding it and let's go!"

The maid grins, holds her family's sword with both hands, and while looking at her opponent's blue eyes, she confidently says "fine then, but don't complain after you have lost."

"That's more like it," excitedly exclaims the silver-haired girl, before dashing straight at the brown-haired maid with her long sword raised over her head.

Rika raises her sword sideways, just as Youmu launches her attack, then pushes the gardener away, and chases after her.

Myon flies underneath her human body to slow her fall, then the half-ghost swings her sword with a twirl of her body, blocking an upward swing from the shrine maid's sword.

The winged girl slides backward, surprised her own surprise attack was discovered, and how strong her rival has become, but she's not about to admit defeat just yet.

She rushes toward Youmu with her sword sheathed, then takes the gardener by surprise when, instead of sword swings, she launches a set of quick leg swipes, which quickly become medium kicks the ghost girl blocks with her sword, then, without even realizing what happened next, she's lying on the ground, blinded by a flash of light.

Rika had unsheathed her sword, and had filled the blade with pure white light, then swung that blade several times the very moment she unsheathed it, and although the half youkai managed to block the worst of it, she can still feel the sore stings of the light where the blade cuts on her arms and legs are.

Using her own sword to stand back up, the blue-eyed gardener grunts while thinking "_she's gotten far stronger than I first estimated. I better stop fooling around._"

Before the angelic girl makes her next move, Youmu springs on her feet and dashes to the right, while her ghost half dashes to the left, and go after that well endowed maid from both side.

Seeing this blunt pincer maneuver coming at her, Rika quickly hops back, and avoids a collision with Myon, and quickly takes notice the human-half of her opponent is missing, though a bit too late.

The gardener lands a slash on the maid's shoulder, and even though she yelps, the sexy maid rolls away, then stands up straight, facing her opponent, and staring her with admiration.

The two girls now share admiring stares toward each other until Youmu's ghost half joins her, and the two swordswomen dash toward each other, swinging their swords, matching them with precision and speed as they pass by each other, and for the spectators, it seems the girls just passed by each other without doing much, and are now standing in opposing sides, yet again.

The fighting girls turn around, Youmu unsheathes her Hakurouken, Rika declares "Oathkeeper," then jumps into the golden gate, and immediately comes out the other side with her thunder sword already on hand, then both girls dash toward each other again.

When in range, they both swing both swords with deadly accuracy, precision, and speed, causing their swords to ring out loud with each matched strike, all while the maid thinks "_if we keep this up, we'll just end up beating each other at the same time again. I'll use the new spell card, and finish this._"

After three more matched sword swings, the sexy maid jumps back, flapping her small wings involuntarily, then sheathes both swords, lifts a spell card and declares "Hikari, Byakuya Senmetsuken!"

Rika unsheathes her sword, and holds it vertically in front of herself, and as soon as a light mimicking that of the moonlight shines on it, her Soraogan mode and Quicksilver activate at the same time, and when her opponent sees those six wings, said gardener gasps and backs away as fast as she can.

The maid moves so fast, Youmu has a very hard time keeping up with her, but can clearly see the several shockwaves and bullets of light headed her way, so she dodges those, takes a spell card on hand, then rapidly declares "Voidness Sword, Slash Clearing of the Six Senses!"

The gardener places her Hakurouken with the blade vertically down in front of herself, and crouches, just as the angelic maid blasts at full speed toward her target with her sword ready for the attack.

A small mound of dirt in front of Youmu bursts, and from underneath it, Kogasa happily shouts "**Urameshiya~**"

Rika gasps and tries to stop, while shouting "KOGASA, LOOK OOOUUUT!", somehow misses the quivering karakasa ghost, by some sort of miracle, taps her sword against the gardener's sword, activating the spell, then two powerful, and totally out of control spells collide and create the most colorful, wonderful, and destructive explosion ever seen in that shrine, so far.

From the veranda, every single girl, including Suzaku herself, face palm hard enough to make a smacking noise, and at the same time exclaim "**NOT AGAIN!**"

As expected, as the girls get closer to the arena, and the smoke from the explosion dissipates, they all sigh at the sight of Youmu lying besides Rika, both with their eyes spinning, with their clothes a mess, burnt and torn, but this time, between the two, lies the cute turquoise-haired karakasa youkai and her umbrella, with their tongues sticking out, giving those spinning eyes a very goofy look.

Reimu stares at the scene before, studies it thoroughly, then sighs and says "somehow, this feels more disgusting than anything."

Tenshi nods in agreement, then says "quite disgusting alright. It's making me sick."

* * *

At the Underground, the party of three reach Chireiden, only a few minutes before lunch time, and not wanting to be any later, the dense boy promptly knocks on the door.

He turns around to address the godling, and says "now remember, be mindful of what you think in there. Miss Satori is very sensitive, and I don't want any kind of trouble with her."

Drake, understandably, raises an eyebrow, then asks "um, so what you mean to say is, I should be careful with what I say, because the mistress of this palace is sensitive, correct?"

"You haven't told him yet?", asks Sanae in surprise, while staring disappointedly at her boy, who chuckles and says "ah, that's right. About Miss Satori. She's a satori youkai, which means she can-"

"**BROTHER AIL, YOU'VE COME!**", excitedly shouts Orin from the now-open door into the mansion, and before the dense one can recover and say what needed to be said, the kasha jumps on his back, wraps her arms and legs around him, then rubs her face on him, while saying "we haven't seen you around here for a while!"

The shrine maiden's glowing glare pierces the ominous darkness covering her face as she stares at this cat woman rubbing her face, and pressing her chest so lovingly, against her own boyfriend's back, and thinks "_youkai hunting in the underground fun._"

She lifts her gohei and takes two slow steps forward, then Orin releases the boy, bends her ears backward as she grins, then Ail grins back, scowls, then rapidly says "onetwothreeGO!"

In an instant, the kasha and half youkai are kicking dust as they run their little race through the Ancient City, and continue toward the surface.

Before the god, or the shrine maiden can comment something, from behind them, Okuu casually says "jeez, that Orin. Umm...", and when the two guests turn around to face the confused hell raven looking away to her right while lost in thought, she springs into a happy state and says "that's right, Satori-sama said I should greet the guests too, so, um, welcome."

Sanae bows her head respectfully, forces Drake to do the same, then the raven-black haired girl pulls both inside, while smiling and saying "come on, I said welcome, already! Come on in! Satori-sama is waiting for you!"

As they make their way into the large palace, the guests look around, the green-haired maiden looking back in wait for her dense boy, and after realizing he's not coming back just yet, she decides to break the awkward silence.

"So, Utsuho, do you remember me?", asks the shrine maiden, to which the atomic-busted raven replies "oh yes. You are that servant of the goddess that gave me my powers. I recognized your scent," then turns around, points at the god in training, then says "but I don't know him. Who is this?"

Drake stops, gulps when he sees the girl's aura rise to the ceiling in just a second, then Sanae gets in front of him and disdainfully says "that's Drake Starstriker. I believe your master told you that he and Ail were her guests for today."

Okuu stares, showing no signs of emotions, which already means danger, then lifts her right arm and aims it straight at the godling's face, and says "I don't like him. He's dangerous. Yatagarasu agrees; this one is dangerous. I should destroy him."

Her control rod appears around her arm, first as thin orange beams of light, then quickly takes it's physical form, a thick concentration of atomic energy forms in front of it, and Starstriker prepares himself for battle.

The Moriya Maiden has no choice but to draw her gohei and some talismans from her pockets, then threateningly demands "please stop this, both of you, or I'll be forced to use force on you!"

"Hey, she's the one attacking me," spits the nervous god.

"If you get in the way, you'll get hurt! Please move, miss guest," monotonously says the hell raven, who still shows no signs of emotion.

The godling activates a thin shield of light in front of himself, Sanae sees no choice but to draw a spell card in the open, then from behind the guests, a girl exclaims "Okuu! What's the matter with you? That's not how we treat guests!"

A dark green, and a purple blur zip from the air and land between the bird, girl and god, and after noticing it's Orin and Ail, the tension quickly lessens as the kasha continues "even if it's someone like him!"

The dense boy sighs and says "sorry we're so late. Little miss cheater here kicked Kisume on my face. Now Drake, calm down. Okuu, I know you don't like him, but Miss Satori will get mad if you hurt us."

The atomic raven slowly lowers her control rod, and as it slowly disappears the same way it appeared, the red-haired cat-girl spits "hey, I told you she tripped me!"

The two racers laugh, then Utsuho shows her bashful side, hides behind her cat friend, peeks with a frightful face at the god in training from besides Rin's hip, then says "but even Yatagarasu doesn't like him. He says that boy has been bad, and I don't want him getting near Satori-sama, or Petal!"

The armpit maiden clings on her man, yet again, while the dense boy sternly says "and that's why we are here, Okuu. That's why Satori agreed to help this boy. He is here to learn about his mistakes and become good."

Drake sighs, drops on his knees as he elegantly bows his head to the hell raven, and softly says "Lady Okuu, please, allow me to show you I am willing to change my ways again. Allow me audience with Lady Satori and Lady Petal, for they may have the answers I seek."

"Heh, he can be a real gentleman when he wants to," jokes Sanae, but Okuu doesn't seem to be that impressed.

She looks down at the bowing godling, slowly walks out from hiding behind Orin, slowly gets closer to the boy, then breaks a light smile and says "alright. I won't try to fry him anymore, but if he makes Petal cry, I am sending him straight to the fire pits!"

Tension swiftly lifts after the bird youkai finishes her sentence, but now is being stared curiously by the brown-eyed boy, whom asks "make Petal cry? Um, how old is she?"

Ail lifts Drake with the leash, then he and his smiling Sanae simultaneously, and happily exclaim "**asking about ages is forbidden!**"

* * *

The party finally reach the dining room, where the scheduled lunch is to be enjoyed, before actual business can take place.

Orin grabs the gold-painted knob of the white door, stops, turns her neck, then says "please mind your manners, and wash your hands before we eat."

Okuu looks particularly surprised, and asks "you are asking us to wash our hands? Are you sick?"

A bead of sweat rolls down the kasha's right of her head as she groans, and says "hey, I'm just saying what Satori-sama would say," then opens the door.

Inside the white and black checker-tiled room, with its kitchen on the far right, and the dining table to the left, with the white pantry against the wall, the scent of food quickly reaches the visitors and hosts, and all, even the godling, drool when the scent hit them.

On the tall, square, white dining table, Satori has Petal sitting to the table's left on a high chair with a small desk, where the little girl, though too big for such seat, giggles as she waves her arms around.

Drake twitches, gasps, grabs Ail, then whispers "she's a shadow! Ail, she's a shadow girl! Why didn't you tell me that fact?"

The dense boy chuckles, bops the god boy on the forehead with his fist, then says "I want you to observe. Don't think too much, don't do anything rash, and for the love of all that is holy, don't attack."

Right at that very moment, they can hear as the purple-haired girl, with the red eye floating around her chest, addresses the adorable little girl with short black hair, with a white stripe on the middle of her head, and a cute green stone on her chest, which looks similar to Okuu's red chest eye.

"Sa~to~ri~ Saa. too. rii. sama. You try now," begins the youkai girl.

The little girl's pink cape with the daytime sky flaps as she stretches her little black wings, and says "Sh-Shaa. tooo-"

"No, no, Sa! Sa~tori," corrects the purple-eyed girl.

The cute little child stares at the mind reader sternly with those sparkly navy-blue eyes, then says "Shatoriii... shamaaa..." then raises her little arms in the air and smiles with glee as she exclaims "LOVE~!"

The little girl promptly begins to waves her arms up and down, while giggling heartily and cheering for herself, then happily says "Petal good! Sghetti good for Petal, yes? Sghetti, sghetti!"

Satori lies on her knees in defeat, holding her mouth and nose in a failed attempt to stop the blood from spilling, then stands back up, revealing her third eye to be crying incessantly, and even though her lips are still stained with blood, she smiles at the adorable creature and blissfully says "alright, I'll get you your lunch. Besides..."

She wipes the blood off her nose and lips before turning her neck slightly as she glances back, and says "the guests have finally arrived."

The blushing guests and hostess stand in front of the door, and all but Ail have blood rolling down from their nostrils, while the mentioned boy just smiles and chuckles nervously, while whispering "so darn cute."

The mind-reader has reached the large pot with the spaghetti and sauce meal on the modern stove, and as she begins to serve lunch, she loudly says "no Miss Sanae, my cat, nor Mister Ail have ulterior motives. And no, they didn't do anything indecent, so please stop thinking that."

The shrine maiden chokes with shame, then the satori maiden continues "Okuu, I know Drake is a questionable character, but I assure you, he won't dare harm Petal, or me, especially after seeing that just now."

Anilan smiles at the godling, and whispers "yup, she can read your thoughts, and quite clearly. But don't worry, for as long as you don't think anything sick, you should be fine."

The god in training gulps, and the second he takes his seat next to Okuu's on the table, he holds his head and says "I feels so violated! Ail, you should have told me, so I could prepare myself!"

"No need for formalities," begins Satori, whom turns around to face the dense one, then says "I missed you too, Ail. I see you have been... through quite a lot. I am glad everything worked out for you, though."

The golden-eyed boy smiles, showing a bit of pain as he does, then looks at Chireiden's master while thinking "_yeah, I did something pretty stupid. Got punished for it, though, it's not over._"

The satori youkai sits on the master's chair, looks amazed at how the table managed to fit all the people on it, then says "well, you did do stupid things, but you learned your lesson, and that's what matters."

Before she can continue, she can hear Mima's voice inside Anilan's mind, as she says "_oh, you have no idea, miss mind reader. I know you can hear me, which is good. Witnesses are good sometimes. Know this boy will undergo a punishment meant to show him something important. You two seem to get along, so that's why I'm letting you know what it is, later._"

The dense one shivers, to which Sanae softly asks "honey, what's the matter?", then he gulps and says "oh, nothing. Though it seems we'll get a visit from Mima soon."

The purple-haired girl sighs, then adds "and seems he somehow got me entangled in that visit as well."

The shrine maiden rubs the boy's back to comfort him, then the dense one holds that hand when it touches his shoulder, and smiles at the girl as he softly says "thank you, Sanae-chan. I'm so glad I have you with me again."

The couple give each other a gentle kiss, earning a longing "aww" from Orin and Okuu, whom now stare naughtily at the couple while holding their cheeks on their hands.

All faces promptly turn toward Drake, whom says with admiration "she's a shadow, but she's so innocent. She's like a little angel, who has been bathed in shadows. This is... confusing."

"Why?", asks Satori, after slurping a mouthful of spaghetti, and after wiping her lips with a napkin, she continues "one thing you should know, or better said, **remember**, is that, being a shadow doesn't make someone immediately evil."

She makes sure to make eye contact with the boy, and continues "what makes someone evil is the choices they make, and the actions they take. Petal here was born as a shadow, destined to kill her original host and take her place, to do as she pleased, but she did not."

The satori maiden notices the look of confusion on the boy, smiles and continues "that's right. Instead of killing, this one chose the opposite, and is one of the sweetest child you'll ever meet. But perhaps you'll understand better after lunch."

Even the dense boy smiles after noticing how Starstriker's face completely changes, and now looks like an eager child, waiting to open a desired gift on his, or her birthday.

Satori frowns, loudly smacks her fork on the table to get everyone's attention, then angrily says "I don't care if you're a god that doesn't need to eat, Petal isn't showing you ANYTHING, until you finish your lunch."

The adorable little youkai girl curls her wings while crossing her arms under her chest, pouts, then shakes her right arm while pointing at the godling and saying "eat Shatori-shama-love food! Tasty! Good people east sghetti all!"

Blood runs down the god's nose, and as though acting subconsciously, he grabs his fork and begins to chow down.

The mind-reader smiles, sighs, then says "yes, I know. She's a powerful force of love."

Those around the table pant hard as blood run down their noses, staining their blissful smiles and blushing faces while staring at the pouting little girl, while Ail just blushes and stares at said girl with a goofy smile on his face.

* * *

Right after lunch, Satori, Orin and Okuu, whom carries Petal on her back, guide their guests to the backyard, where the mind reader and the dense boy plan to open that certain god-in-training's mind completely.

They all reach a large white gazebo, where two small round glass tables with white frames, and the matching white patio chairs, wait for their respective user to sit.

All, including the mansion's inhabitants, enjoy the wondrous sight of the backyard, where tulips, azaleas, amaryllises, bluebells, and all sort of flowers have grown all over the place, including on the rocks surrounding the place.

The dense one doesn't say it, but he thinks Yuka would have a happy field day in this garden, to which the purple-haired mind-reader nods in agreement.

Drake is particularly amazed by the sight, and out of all the beautiful words he thinks of saying in admiration of such glorious garden, he bluntly says "but this is impossible! Th-this terrain isn't fit for such magnificence! It's like we're on holy grounds, instead of hell!"

Sanae and Ail punch the stupid god on the head, knocking him to the ground as the dense one growls "watch your damned mouth."

The satori youkai calmly waves her hand, gesturing the guests to settle down, then says "you thought a lot of beautiful words, yet chose poorly on which to say. Regardless, we aren't here to teach you manners, sadly."

She walks over to the hell ravens, rubs Utsuho's hair to make her giggle, scratches Petal's cheeks after the motherly raven bends down, then softly asks "would you be a dear and show Mister Drake what you can do?"

The adorable little youkai gasps, curls up, whimpers, and turns into her baby bird form, where the green stone becomes part of a necklace, and the white stripe of her hair becomes a zigzag around her neck, then she hides under her Momkuu's hair, and hides her head under her own wing.

Satori watches all of this, and thinks "_dammit, that's so cute. But I can't let her defeat me now,_" then sighs, places her hand over the atomic raven's hair to touch Petal, then softly says "don't be shy. Just do like you always do. If you do that, you will be helping me, and Mister Ail too."

The baby crow peeks her head from her adoptive mother's hair, lets out a quick, high-pitched caw, then the mind-reading youkai turns to face the godling with a bit of worry in her eyes, then says "oh dear. It seems she'll only do it, if you play a tune on your harp for her."

Ail, Sanae, Orin and Okuu look incredibly confused, then the shrine maiden says "a harp? But I've never seen him with one."

The brown-eyed boy chuckles, sighs, then says "well, it's been a... very long time since I've been requested to use that old thing," then raises his right arm, and a small harp made out of light appears on it, then he closes his eyes as he gets his left hand closer to the strings, and says "well then, I kinda missed doing this, now that I think about it."

The elder Komeiji chuckles, and says "those memories are quite the sight."

The boy strums the instrument to test it out, then says "those are from before I ascended," and immediately after, begins to play a soft melody that resonates with a soothing vibration.

The moment those vibrations touch the shadow girl, she flies right out of Okuu's hair, takes her human form, then begins to fly around in quick and energetic zigzags in the air, while dropping a curtain of white energy that brings the ground to life, with flowers, bushes and greener grass.

As she does this, she giggles happily, and hums along with the melody, stopping the song on occasions to say "Momkuu, Shatori-shama-love, Rin-Rin-chan! Petal flower!", then resuming her humming while binging life to the yard.

Drake, though playing the harp, manages to peek and see what the shadow girl is doing, and upon realizing what he is seeing, his harp disappears, his eyes open wide as tears gather underneath them, then points at the girl and asks "wha? What is this? Wh-what is going on here?"

As he watches the girl with the shadow aura bringing beautiful life into the garden, a confusing war between what he thinks is right, and what he feels is reality, takes place inside his very mind, and holding his head as though in great pain, he drops on his knees and cries.

The mind reader can see how he brings thoughts of all his past experiences, dark blobs inside his mind, a representation of the beings he's come across that have betrayed him, keep repeatedly stabbing him on the back, and how ancient memories of light, of his old home, how all sorts of creatures live as one, without judgment, keeps soothing him and healing his spirit.

Ail and Sanae approach the crying god before the satori youkai can, then the gold eyed boy says "you see? She's a shadow, there's no doubt about that, but she brings life, pure and full of light."

The shrine maiden taps the godling's shoulder to make sure he's conscious, then says "that's what we've been trying to tell you about the balance. There has to be light and darkness, it must be balanced, but it can only be so when both light and darkness coexists as one."

"Light doesn't have to destroy darkness for peace or enlightment," begins the dense boy, who gets Drake to look at him as he continues "nor does the darkness need to consume the light to live the way they want."

"As long as there is respect for each other," continues the blue and white maiden, getting the god's attention, "both light and dark can live together, and this is what a god works so hard for. To make sure both sides remain as one, and thus, getting faith from everyone, and spreading love and peace everywhere."

These words repeat themselves inside Starstriker's mind, who takes a look at Petal once more, and watches as she continues humming and dancing in the air, even after he has stopped playing the harp, and suddenly drops on his hands while still on his knees after something inside of him breaks.

The yin-yang orb slowly spins clockwise before his eyes, his body feels lighter and begins to shine, and as it does, he cries "**I'M SORRY,**" and the images of himself breaking Byakuren's spirit, killing the youkai rabbits, murdering innocent youkai he's come across, attacking Yuka's mansion, invading Makai, attacking its people, attacking the Scarlet Devil Mansion, all play fast in front of his mind, augmented in intensity by the yin-yang orb.

His heart begins beating hard as it heats up, his body feels like it's about to melt, and he screams "**I'M SORRY,**" when the images of Rika, defending those he called demons, of Kali trying to protect the angelic girl, giving her shadow life for the maid's soul of light, how he murdered Ail out of anger, all play and repeat themselves in front of his mind, again and again, until he screams "**I'M SORRYYYYYY!**"

He now finds himself back at Chireiden's garden, with the little shadow girl sanding in front of him, crying with him and rubbing his head while saying "bad man ishn't bad anymore. He learn, but no more cries! Makes Petal cry too!"

Comforted by a shadow. The god in training cannot believe it, but at the same time, understands the irony, sees and understands, for the first time in a very long run that's been his life, the lesson he has failed to learn during all his travels.

He raises a teary smile toward the shadow raven, raises his arm to scratch the side of her head, making her giggle and smile again, then, in a softer, gentler, and surprisingly kinder tone of voice, asks "how about I play again?"

The little girl giggles out loud as she nods, takes off to the air to dance, and the godling raises his right arm and summons a violin, then stands and begins to play a peaceful melody, with a light beat to it.

Orin chuckles and exclaims "so, you have more than one instrument?"

Drake chuckles and shakes his head, then says "I can turn this into any instrument I want. I just like harps better," and after playing a few more notes, he chuckles again and says "and be thankful this isn't a real violin, or you'd all be bleeding through your ears."

The new essence the boy is emanating is now so soothing, even Okuu is feeling fully relaxed with him near her, and while the boy on a leash plays while recovering his body's strength, everyone just listen quietly, while the little bird girl dances in the air.

* * *

A few hours later, Orin has taken her cat form, and now sleeps, curled into a ball, on top of one of the glass tables, while Okuu flies around with Petal riding on her back and cheering.

Drake sits next to the table where the kasha is, and keeps petting her soft fur while enjoying her purring, Sanae enjoys some tea on the seat next to them, and Ail and Satori stand beside each other in front of the table, with their backs toward the mansion, while smiling at the godling.

The bandana on the boy looks light grey, which means he's feeling a little down, and with a saddened face, he sighs loudly and says "man, I really acted like a complete asshole. Not just any asshole, but one that exceeds expectations. Man, how in heaven's sake am I ever going to fix all of that? So many dead."

The dense boy chuckles nervously, waves his hands at the saddened god, and says "look, I'm glad you finally understand what you did wrong," then the mind reader finishes for him "but beating yourself up will do nothing. Just don't go forgetting this lesson again, and pay respects for those you killed. I'm guessing it's the best you can do-**OOHAAAAIIIEEEEE!**"

The satori youkai screams and jumps high, lands on Anilan's arms and blubbers incoherently, while Koishi, whom stands behind where her sister was, holding her hands in the air and leaning, as though still pinching her sister's butt, looks at the dense one, smiles, and says "hello everyone. Say, nice party. Sis's butt is tender too!"

The poor mind reader stammers quite a bit, so Ail asks for her "Miss Koishi, where did you come from? And why did you do that to your sister?"

The younger satori youkai smiles and coos while raising her arms and shrugging, then points at the godling and says "well, I was hiding because that subconscious was very dangerous, volatile, and very perverted! Now it's more peaceful, but he's still a cute pervert!"

Starstriker stammers and blushes beet red, then Sanae playfully says "oh, so he's actually perverted. I guess that Mina lady has made him wait too long."

"P-p-perish the thought, miss maiden," nervously spits the god, who promptly points at the grey-greenish haired girl and demands "please stops saying things like that, Lady Koishi!"

The subconscious little monster now appears standing next to the godling, then giggles and says "so, it's Mina, huh? When you see her, you're planning on **** her, playing with her, doing ***** to her ******. Ah, so romantic. But you're still a cute pervert!"

The god boy is blushing so hard, even Ail can feel the heat his face is emanating.

Before anybody can react, Koishi opens her mouth, and says "ah, but that's the thing about lo-**OH DEAR GOODNESS!** You saw it! You saw it, her rose, but didn't get any of it! You poor bastard, HAHAHAHA! Here, this will help," landing the killer blow on the god, turning him into stone, and smashing a silver washtub on his head, turning him to rubble on the ground.

Sanae and Ail stand close to each other, holding back their chuckles and holding hands, then the maiden cheers "awesome! A Hyper Combo K.O., in the flesh!"

Anilan just gazes at his girl, turns his eyes to the young subconscious girl, then says "man, she would have been the weapon we needed against this guy at the mansion before!"

As this happens, Satori sneaks from behind, holding a large blue bug net on her hands, large enough to trap a human within, gets closer to her smiling sister, raises the capturing item, and swings down with all her might!

Koishi jumps to the air, exclaiming "Peter Pan took me to **NEVER LAND! **We did things there," making her older sister miss and trap Orin instead, who shrieks and turns into her human form while inside the net.

The kasha manages to peek her head from within the bug net, and whimpers "why did you do that to me, Satori-sama? Why didn't you use the cake, like last time?"

The purple-haired girl glances flatly at her two-tailed cat, then casually says "I would have, but the cat ate the cake," causing the sexy kasha to cover her mouth while chuckling nervously, and hiding back inside the net.

At that very moment, the younger sister hums happily, believing she's about to escape again, when she's tackled from the left by a girl that exclaims "Ishi-Ishi-shama-love! Play with Petal! PLAY!"

They crash on the ground, where the little youkai sits on the satori's stomach, and waves her arms around while cheering "Ishi-Ishi-shama-love is love! Treat Petal! Play, eat!"

The younger Komeiji bleeds through her nose as she smiles blissfully, wraps her arms around the little girl, staining her plaid blue overall skirt with that nose blood, and says "dammit, she's too cute! I loooooost!"

From the gazebo, Satori stares at the scene in disbelief, then says "well, at least she's been caught again. Maybe I should chain her up."

Ail and Sanae keep holding each others' hands while staring as Koishi and Petal hug each other tightly, then the dense one nods and says "when Koishi's around, there's just no telling what's going to happen," getting a nod from Sanae.

Drake still sits on the chair, sobbing and looking at the glass table, while whimpering "but that was so personal. I hid it well. She totally violated me! Mind raping is what that was!"

He suddenly stops his crying and looks at the lovable scene unfolding, where Okuu joins the little bird girl and the young satori youkai, then smiles, while thinking "_yes, this reminds me of my own home. Everyone was so different, and yet they all got along so well, whether wrapped in light, or in shadow. I can't believe I forgot that._"

The elder satori youkai drops the net with the kasha inside, turns around to look at the boy, then says "then keep those memories alive at all time. You certainly don't want to be going back to a one-track minded idiot."

She suddenly has a mischievous smile on her face, making the god sweat bullets, then says to him "and don't worry about those sick fantasies, you godly pervert. Koishi will probably forget about them in a week."

The boy swings his arms in front of his own chest, and nervously exclaims "oh, COME ON! That's MY personal fantasy!"

* * *

Later that afternoon, at the Hakurei Shrine, Youmu and Rika unwrap the mummified Kogasa from her bandages, smiling casually while the cute and sexy maid says "next time you do something so dangerous, I will have to punish you more severely. You could have gotten hurt!"

The half-ghost girl scowls and says "hey, hey, she caused us to get plenty hurt. She deserves no mercy!"

The karakasa youkai's face is finally free from the bandages, takes a desperate gasp of breath, then cries "I'm sorry, I didn't notice you were using spells that time!"

Reimu, Suika and Aya sit around the short table, and stare as the girls unwrap the little ghost youkai, then the oni chuckles, lightly elbows the tengu, and jokingly says "that girl's not very bright."

Shameimaru chuckles as silently as she can, and adds "she couldn't scare the screams out of an old lady."

While the girls laugh, Reimu tilts her head to rest it on her hand, using her elbow and placing it on the table for support, and casually says "oi, Rika, don't forget that umbrella of hers. I don't want that thing staying in my shrine."

"Of course, my lady," acknowledges the maid, while from the kitchen, Tenshi, whom looks bored as she takes one cookie after another out of a rose-colored jar, sighs and says "look, I'm going home. I'm not feeling well right now."

She makes her way out of the kitchen and heads toward the left-side door, then the kind maid says "wait, Momoko, what's the matter? You've looked so down and stressed all day."

The celestial stops and clicks her tongue, turns around while holding the brim of her hat to hide her eyes, and smiles as she says "it's just been a bad day for me. Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow."

The shrine maid stands up, leaving the umbrella's unwrapping up to the karakasa and half-ghost, but before she can reach her celestial friend, said girl is already sitting on a keystone just out of the veranda and taking off to the sky.

The sexy maid turns around to look at her mistress with a saddened smile, and asks "what happened to Tenshi? Is she mad at me for something?"

The Hakurei Maiden notices those sky-blue eyes turning glassy, face palms, thinks of saying a lie, but sighs, thinks more calmly, then says "no, she's not. She's mad at me. That, and she's had it a little rough today."

"Ooh," sighs the maid in relief, holding her chest and flapping her wings, then softly says "I hope she's feeling better tomorrow."

From the rooms corridor, Suzaku tweets as she comes flying into the living room, lands on her perch, then, for all to hear, telepathically says "_they're finally done. Come on out, girls._"

"Finally," irritably exclaims Reimu, then, from the bathroom come Marisa and Hatate, dressed in matching shrine maiden uniforms, with white kimono-like shirts, long red pants, and long, detached white sleeves.

The witch stares with grimace at her outfit, then says "remind me to bring more spare clothes over, ze."

The tengu girl blushes while pointing at her left armpit, and asks "couldn't you, like, get some normal clothes?", then crosses her arms under her chest while blushing with embarrassment and turning away from Shameimaru's camera.

The blonde witch doesn't even bother covering herself up, knowing how futile that is against the fastest reporter, yet can't help but not blush, so she pulls the brim of her hat, to hide her flushed face.

The shrine maiden sighs, lifts her head, then casually says "well, you can take them off and go home naked. I really don't care either way."

Both girls blush, then Marisa just scoffs angrily, walks out the door, then casually says "don't be like that. Anyway, I'm going home. I'm going to sleep the rest of the day off."

She lifts her right hand, summons her broom, then promptly sits on it and takes off to the sky, just before Reimu shouts "remember to bring those back!", to which she shouts back "yeah, yeah, I got it!"

Hatate sighs after her satisfied colleague stops taking photos, and after a second, exhausted sigh, she says "might as well go home too. That cheating witch and her stupid potion... She really hurt me."

She walks over to the door, but before she can take off, Aya places a hand on her shoulder, and with glints in her face, and a mischievous grin, she says "ah-ah~ As requested by Reimu, I'm accompanying you and making sure you don't get into trouble again."

"Wait, what the-?", tries to argue the brown-haired crow girl, but she's now being pulled by the back of the collar of her lent shirt, while her tengu partner suspiciously says "come. We'll stop by my house first. There's... something we have to get there."

Himekaidou can't help but shiver at the perverted smile on her rival's face, knowing well of the ulterior motives of that girl, and unable to escape her fate, no matter how hard she waves her arms or kicks her legs, she cries "no, wait! No, I want to go home! Please, nooooo~"

Rika sighs while gazing over to the flying tengu, then says "and there goes Hatate," to which Kogasa quickly declares "don't get sad! I'll stay with you if you want!"

The maid smiles, walks over to the table and sits in front of her lady, and sadly says "it's still starting to get quiet around here," then faces the karakasa youkai, smiles sweetly, and says "and know I am grateful for your kindness."

"I'm sorry, but it's my turn to leave as well," says Youmu after standing up, getting a cute upward sideway gaze from Kogasa at the table.

Suika chuckles, then says "yeah, you better go now, or that mistress of yours will eat the whole house."

The half ghost scowls, and Myon flies in a rapid circle around her human half, then the girl spits "hey, show some respect to Lady Yuyuko!"

The oni swings back and forth while waving her hand at the ghost girl, then takes her gourd and begins to gulp down her sake without care.

The silver-haired girl sighs and face palms, then gasps and punches her palm after remembering something, and says "hey, I just remembered something. The this morning, an odd spirit came into the Netherworld. I'm not sure why, but Yuyu-sama asked me to tell you guys about it, and told me that you are welcome to come and investigate whenever you like."

She pauses for a moment and holds her chin while in thought, then adds "oh, and said you should bring spell cards."

The gardener doesn't wait for an answer and walks over to the exit, stands on the edge of the veranda, drops inside her shoes, and says "and Rika, please don't feel so down. It doesn't do you good," then promptly takes flight, and quickly vanishes from sight.

Rika is left turned around, raising her arm and opening her mouth to ask questions, but sighs, composes herself while turning to face her mistress again, then asks "my-my lady? Did you understand what she meant?"

Reimu rubs her chin while pondering for a moment, then Suzaku says "_Rika-sama, please don't go. I don't think you should expose yourself at the moment._"

The armpit maiden nods and adds "I agree. Whether she's your friend or not, she's stab you on the back if that ghost princess commands it."

"Youmu would NEVER do that!", excitedly exclaims the maid, causing he bird and maiden to quiet down.

Suika sighs and mumbles "ah, incorrigible," getting the winged maid's attention, then says "what if Reimu ordered you to stab that celestial you like so much on the foot?"

The shrine's maid twitches and gags, looks away, and stammers "um, I'd be... Erm, I'd nev-"

Deep inside her heart, she knows she would never go against her lady's orders, and in her confusion, ends up looking into Reimu's eyes, as though looking for support.

The red and white one smile, sighs, then says "you see? Youmu also has a mistress, and she has to carry out any of her orders given to her by said woman, regardless of what they may be."

From Rika's sapphire yin-yang, Tenshi's voice sounds a little distant as she exclaims "that's right. So don't go there without me! I'll protect you while you check that suspicious place out!"

Hakurei suddenly pats herself several times, twitches, then angrily shouts "hey! You thief! You took the receiver! GIVE IT BACK!"

"It's MY turn to watch over Rika, so **BACK OFF!**", angrily replies the celestial.

The shrine maiden jumps over the table, grabs the sapphire from inside her maid's ample, soft, and bouncy chest without second thoughts, even ignoring the cute yelp from the girl, and shouts "**you come back here right now and give that back!**"

From the yin-yang, the heaven dweller shouts "**how dare you grope my Rika. When I get there tomorrow, you are SO GOING TO GET IT, Hakurei!**"

The angelic maid suddenly breaks down and cries "m-my lady, Momoko~ Please stop~ Waaah~"

"**NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!**", scream both girls at the same time, while the little drunk only just sighs, face palms, and thinks "_these kids will need some guidance, don't you think._"

Suzaku flies to said girl's right horn, ruffles her feathers, then says "_I agree. When Yuki comes back, I'm taking them both with me as well._"

Suika flips a thumb up and winks, then says "alright then, count me in."

Meanwhile, flying outside the shrine, Eiki looks down at the building, frowning sadly, then says to herself "I wonder if I did the right thing."

She lifts her hands, tests them by opening and closing them, as though using them for the first time in a long time, then asks herself "is this really fate, or was I finally blinded by my own emotions?"

A gentle breeze blows from the north, twirls around her, slightly lifting the bottom of her shirt and her skirt, then continues on its way.

The Yama of Paradise looks curiously at the visible gust, smiles, then says to herself "yes, she does deserve it. And as long as I'm not being foolish, then there's no harm."

She suddenly becomes translucent, and promptly disappears, making it look as though she was never even there.

* * *

That night, at Ail's house, Budou moans in pain after shifting on the dinner table's chair, where she sits with a thick pillow on her sore butt, and Phredia keeps flying around her and sprinkling some healing dust on the bat.

The dense one standing behind her rubs her head, sighs, and says "I hope you learned your lesson."

The little bat nods, then sadly says "curse words spice life, but should not be used in anger."

A large drop of sweat rolls down the back of the boy's head as he smiles and chuckles nervously, then turns his neck toward the living room and demands "**mom**, I gotta have a word with you!"

At the living room, Sanae and Ayalina sit on the large couch, while Drake sits on the singles couch, where he leans over and cups his hands together, placing them on his forehead as though desperate in his thoughts.

Ail walks over to the large couch, sits between his mom and his girlfriend, then looks at the godling and says "I'm glad you understand now, but really, getting depressed and desperate about it won't help."

The brown-eyed boy lifts his head, revealing the terrified expression on his bluish face, and exclaims "Kasen is going to **KILL** me! Of course I'm going to be distraught!"

Looks of disbelief shower on the god, but he quickly notices this, sighs his tension off, then apologetically says "Ail, let me begin with you. I am terribly sorry for what I put you and your friends through. And no, I can't bring back the dead, but I will do what I must to make up for the damage I have done."

He looks to the window, out at the eerie, but peaceful night in the forest, and says "I was acting like the very same villains I once defeated to bring peace to my piece of Lumia, my home. To think, I didn't even notice that change in myself."

Ayalina sighs, stands up to walk to, and rub the leashed boy's head, removes the leash with some effort, and with a gentle smile on her face, she says "then I guess there's no more need for this, or any more punishments. Ail, Sanae," turns around to face her son and his girlfriend, and asks "will you forgive him?"

The dense one nods, and says "as long as he learned his lesson, and is truly sorry, then yes, I forgive him," then his girlfriend quickly adds "and if Ail-kun forgives him, then I guess I can do so too."

The two give each other a deep gaze, and seem unable to turn away, even with Starstriker saying "well, I wish to go back to the Hakurei Shrine tomorrow... and try to apologize to Rika. I really owe her at least that, even if chances are she'll try to kill me on sight."

He and the flower youkai soon take notice of the couple's gazing each other, then the young mother grabs the god boy by the waist, lifts him up, and happily says "well, looks like we're needed elsewhere. Come on boy, let's give them their privacy."

The godling doesn't seem too thrilled of being dragged back into that room, but at least feels there's no more need to scream for help as the door to the old torture room closes up behind them.

Ail and Sanae keep gazing into each other's eyes, slowly get closer, and closer to each other, then Budou springs between them and exclaims "kissy for Budou," and skillfully uses her cheeks to steal a kiss from both.

Right after the couple takes notice, the little bat lifts up to the air, and Koishi reveals herself from beneath, steals a tongue kiss from the two lovers (first the boy, then the girl), then happily says "this is true love for Koishi!"

The two love birds spittle and groan, then Anilan angrily asks "Koishi, what the hell? Seriously! Why did you do that?"

The youkai girl glances sideways while pressing her lips on her tongue, then says "because."

"Because what?", curiously asks the bat youkai on the satori's head.

Komeiji giggles, then says "because pheromones were high enough for them to lie down and- mufu muu muufu mufu fu!"

The shrine maiden quickly covers the girl's mouth, then nervously says "no-ho-ho please. She's still too young for that kind of talk, you raging pervert."

Wanting to quickly divert Budou's thoughts away from the current conversation, Ail grabs the little girl by the waist, sits her on his lap, then suggests "say, why don't you launch a sneak attack on Rikako. She owes you for this morning, doesn't she?"

Little Budou's eyes glint, Phredia face palms, then smacks the dense one's face so hard, it turns all the way to the right, then the little bat determinedly says "yes, you're RIGHT! REVEEEEEENGE!", and goes off running back to her room, followed slowly by the reluctant elf fairy.

After his little girl is gone, the boy gently unwraps his girlfriend's tight grip from the subconscious creature's throat, then says "I've been wondering. Miss Koishi, I know you can't read minds, but you can manipulate the subconscious. I need to know, how did you get all of that information out of Drake? Not even Satori could."

The girl grins mischievously, while Sanae clicks her tongue, and angrily agrees "yeah, I guess I'm curious about that as well."

Koishi smiles as she says "well, I just got lucky."

From Ayalina's room, Drake furiously screams "**WHAT?**"

Satisfied with the confused looks on the lovers' faces, she smiles smugly and says "I just felt that inside of him and guessed all that stuff, then brought it all out of him. I just got lucky with the details."

From the room, the godling screams "**you evil little monster! Mina, forgive me!**"

Ail and Sanae chuckle, sweat nervously, then the maiden nervously says "you truly are a little frightening, Miss Koishi."

The dense one adds "yeah. Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"You already did," sweetly says the subconscious girl before angrily grabbing the lovers' hands and pulling them off her thighs.

In an instant, she's in the kitchen, watching the shirtless couple from there with a flushed, naughty face she holds with her hands.

Ail and Sanae blink, slowly realize they are both without shirts, the boy showing his toned, slightly tanned, bare torso, and the girl showing her ample, curvy figure and silky skin, and her lilac bras with a tiny red ribbon in the center.

They both yelp and cross their arms over their bodies, drop and hide on the opposite ends of the couch, then, from the kitchen, Koishi says "don't worry, I only teased you slightly."

The couple forget their semi-nakedness as they stare curses at the girl in the kitchen, stand up, the dense one preparing a white flame on his fist, and the maiden preparing her gohei, and from outside the house, Nazrin stares flatly at the flashes coming from within the house, shrugs, and says "no my problem," then points her dowsing rods toward the Hakurei Shrine.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Ayalina, Kimi, Petal and Drake, were created by Willie G.R.

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

Rika's spell card: "Hikari, Byakuya Senmetsuken" ("Light, White Night Annihilation Sword") was created by Snapshot 2010.

NOV 21 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Yup... I took FAR TOO LONG for my tastes to post this chapter, but I blame video games. Sonic Generations, Arkham City, and now Skyward Sword. Seriously, these games cheat! They take my motivation away from writing! Ah well.**

**Ok, that aside, I hope you liked this chapter. Drake finally understands 100% what he did wrong, and now it's his turn to move around Gensokyo and try to make amends, IF HE CAN. Will Rika forgive him for what he did? Will he gather enough faith to finally leave Gensokyo? And will Koishi stop picking on Ail and Sanae? Well... I don't know. Maybe? Take care, and see you next chapter, if the spirits will allow it. (Oh, and to those waiting for the next U.G., I make no promises on speed of writing, but I'll try to speed it up and post it soon, BUT I will be working on the next Almost Pirates chapter also, because it's about time I did that.)**


	19. Chapter 19

It is an early morning at Eientei, and Reisen sits alone in Kaguya's eternal garden, staring distantly into an old, whitish-yellow rectangular piece of paper.

She smiles lightly as she touches the center of the piece of paper, then whispers to herself "I miss you guys so much."

The piece of paper is an old black and white photo of her old Moon Rabbit colleagues she found in an old storage box at the back of the mansion's own storage shed.

Tears form under her eyes as she gazes into the old picture, which seems is about to turn to dust at any moment.

Reisen stands up, cleans her cheeks from her tears, and as she mumbles about the day ahead, and how she must keep that photo a secret, that's when Tewi decides to reveal herself from under the porch.

She giggles to herself after getting close, kicks the moon rabbit on the back of the knees, takes the folded photo after her victim falls, jumps to the next part of the porch, turns around to stick her tongue out, and pulls her lower lid at her favorite target, then teases "come and get it if you want it."

"No, no! Wait, Tewi, no! Don't let Master see," pleas the purple-haired bunny girl, to which the Earth rabbit replies to with a giggle, a rude finger-gesture taunt, and running away.

Reisen snarls when frustration and fear envelop her heart, then rushes after the mischievous little rabbit in a sudden burst of blind rage.

"**Give it back, Tewi!**" demands the girl in a suit, but as expected, the evil little prankster spanks her own butt as a taunt and runs faster toward the entrance.

Udonge loses her form sight, but knows where she's headed, and so she quickly runs out that door.

To her surprise, she finds the precious photo on the ground, so the blindly jumps for it, ignoring the warnings at the back of her head.

She gets her photo back alright, but even in her blind fit of rage, what happens next is embarrassingly predictable.

She falls down a deep hole, screams on her way down, grunts out loud at the sound of the thud, then the mischievous prankster rabbit casually walks around the hole she made and teases "tsk, tsk. You disappoint me Udonge. I seriously thought you were a lot smarter than that."

The angry or snarky reply Tewi expected doesn't come, and after thirty seconds have passed, she starts to get worried for her leader, so she peeks her head and monotonously asks "oi~ Aren't we a little old for the silent treatment?"

"WHOA," yelps the earth rabbit, jumping into the hole when she hears her friend sobbing softly in that deep hole, thinking she might be hurt, and promptly flies back out with the purple-haired rabbit.

She sits Reisen on the edge of the pitfall and stammers nervously while inspecting the girl for wounds, broken bones, or maybe a mere twisted ankle, but when she finds nothing of the sort, save for a few dirt stains on that short skirt, she exclaims "hey, what gives? Crying now, is it? Geez, grow up Udon-"

"Stupid, stupid Tewi! You idiot! Get away from me," screams the suited rabbit, frightening her ally before returning to her sobbing, and after taking a better look, and just before spitting out some well aimed curses, the mischievous girl notices the photograph is broken in three pieces.

It looks like the moon rabbit is just about to blow up in tears, then, from the left, a boy screams "HEEEEEEELP!"

Drake runs toward them and no stands next to them, looking as though his immortal life is in danger, and before either girl can ask, he drops on his knees and begs "PLEASE, she wants to do things to me! INDECENT THINGS! You have to hide me, PLEASE!"

"Oh cute peeeerveeeert~ Come to Koishi, and I promise, I'll skip the shock rods."

The sweet, sweet call of the subconscious satori fills the godling with such fear, he starts to whimper while saying "she's unstoppable!"

Even Tewi can't scowl at that pathetic sight for too long, and after a quick glance and nod at each other, Reisen skillfully jumps on her feet, then the pink-dressed rabbit grabs the begging boy by the back of the shirt, tosses him into the hole, whispers "stay there, and don't say a word," then jumps to her friend's side to cover the hole from the left side.

The girls blink, and when they open their eyes, they come face to face with Koishi, who smiles cutely, giggles sweetly, and asks "hello. I'm Koishi. Have you seen a perverted boy in brown clothes run by here?"

Both rabbits smile while shaking their heads, then the well-endowed moon rabbit says "nope, sorry. We haven't seen anyone other than yourself today."

The cute greyish-green haired girl's sweet smile becomes a little more sinister, and in a very sweet tone, she says "I hate it when people try to lie to me. I saw the hole, now step aside and let me through, or you'll regret it."

The earth rabbit bravely asks "oh yeah? And what are you going to do, little pipsqueak? Smile us to the death?"

"Don't give her ideas, and just RUN," shouts the boy in the hole, but neither bunny girl seems will move.

The little girl in yellow and green sighs, bows hear head as she says "it's nothing personal, I just want some of that god before he spoils," and everything becomes a very confusing mess of swirling bamboo shoots and an orange sky.

The effect only lasts a mere second, and when the girls' consciousness returns, they find their lips are locked togethe, and their tongues touching inside their mouths.

They scream, turn away from each other, and spit repeatedly, their faces showing sickness and disgust, Tewi groaning and gagging while Reisen breathes in through her nose and expels air with force from her mouth.

Both stand and turn to face each other, simultaneously blush with embarrassment, then Tewi runs inside the mansion, screaming "no, I didn't like that! GAH! That's the last time I'm helping a god!"

Reisen smiles sweetly, says to herself "I'm brushing my teeth right now," then looks down with surprise upon taking notice of something sticking out of her right pocket.

She takes a white piece of paper wrapped around a smaller, stained piece of paper, and gasps with surprise at the sight of her fully restored and colored photo.

"Wha-? How?", questions the Udonge as she looks around, then remembers the other piece of paper, quickly unfolds it, and reads the rapidly scribbled letter "thank you for trying to help me. Fixed your photograph. Hope she didn't mess you up too bad. Drake."

The sexy bunny remains awestruck where she stands, and manages to move her arms to take a look at her new colored picture, and softly says to the wind "thank you... so very much."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the skies above the City of Makai, Yuki, Mai and Luize hurry over to the gate to Gensokyo, where they plan to meet with their dear sister.

The fire witch glances uncomfortably at her ice witch partner, and unable to hold it in, she says "are you sure about this Mai? You know you can trust me. I'll let Rika know."

The blonde in the sunhat quickly adds "Yuki's right, sis. You're still a little weak from that battle. You should stay with mother, and rest a little longer. She won't mind at all."

The winged girl sighs with frustration, then angrily says "I told you guys already, I am FINE, so stop worrying so much. Besides, I'm not a weak little human you need to nurse!"

The blonde in black gets her face closer to her blue-haired sister's while smirking mischievously, and says "but you liked all that attention, didn't you, sis?"

Mai blushes so hard, even Yuki feels the heat from her face, then the winged girl chuckles and diverts the conversation by saying "anyway, I want to go see Rika and Suzaku, and thank them personally for curing you of that ridiculous pink phobia. It was starting to get on **my** nerves."

Luize giggles, and says "yeah, it was getting old. And that bikini thing was a good idea. Um... you DID take it off and wash it, right Yuki-sis?"

Before the fire witch answers, the ice witch groans, face palms, and says "Yumeko pulled it off of her by force. After that, she cried for it for almost two hours, then Lady Shinki decided she would not wear that again for a week, as punishment for her lack of hygiene."

"So I'm going to see Rika-sis to see if she can make something as helpful as that bikini for me," eagerly adds the energetic blonde, while energetically waving her hands in the air, then stops, ponders, and says "hey, I can't smell my armpits anymore."

The sunhat blonde ponders for a minute, ignoring that last comment by Yuki, stares at her two sisters, then asks the blonde witch "um, sis? For how long were you wearing that thing?"

"Hadn't showered for five days, thank you for asking," proudly declares the blonde, causing both of her sisters' faces to turn green as they grimace in disgust, then she sniffs herself, and happily adds "so that's why I was smelling rotten ham all the time."

A sudden realization hits Luize, then she suddenly gasps and exclaims "w-w-w-WAIT A MINUTE! So you were telling me the truth? Yumeko saw you naked? **HAVE YOU NO SHAME?**"

"Yes to the first, yes to the second... and maybe for the third," lazily replies Yuki as they land at the gate's entrance.

Mai strikes that sick blonde on the head, and furiously exclaims "maybe I'll ask Rika and Suzaku to do something about that lack of shame too!"

The fire girl snarls at her sister, grabs her by the collar of her shirt, smiles, and angrily says "ara~ ara. Don't go picking fistfights with me, ice babe."

"I'll kick your indecent little ass, you dirty little fire frog," spits Mai back while grabbing hold of her sister's shirt collar as well.

Their narrowed-eyed blonde sister places a hand on both witches' shoulder, squeezes them tight, then happily says "now, now, we don't want to go see Rika looking like little muddy boys with punch bruises all over the face. Relax, **_or I'll make you relax..._**"

They can feel an ominous and cold sensation emanating from those last words, sweat and shiver as their eyes get covered by a blue shadow, and smiling at their sister, they nod and simultaneously whimper "**we'll be good.**"

* * *

Meanwhile, the once terrifying godling, Drake Starstriker, runs like a frightened child, with tears dangling under his eyes and panting desperately, because there is a little subconscious-wielding girl wanting to violate him.

His run takes him straight into the Human Village, where Lester Wilson casually greets "oh, it's that boy that I saw at my neighbor's. Please get out of here, I don't like you."

"SAVE MEEEE!", is all Mr. Wilson gets as a reply before being tackled hard and sent through the air straight toward Eientei.

Shortly after beginning his flight, the little satori girl shoots a casual set of hearts to the air while shouting "just a nibbleeeeee!", then Lester is sent toward his favorite place, the Garden of the Sun.

The god-in-training runs so fast, he reaches the center of the village, meaning Keine's school, in record time, and when he lays eyes upon familiar faces, he smiles while thinking he might be saved.

In front of the school are Keine herself, Kyo, Luna and Medicine, and the muscled boy looks over the running god, frowns, and loudly asks "hey! Who the hell let that dog out of his leash?"

Drake runs straight to the scowling bow, drops on his knees, and begs "she's gonna EAT ME! You have to hide me, I BEG of you!"

The group in front of the school share white disk-eyes surprise faces, then the poisonous girl chuckles with a happy little sneer, and says "oh-ho-ho. This! This is the reason I woke up this morning. Well mister ass-kicking, murderous little god, you'll ha-"

"Heh, that looks so pathetic, I have decided it's worth helping this boy," happily comments Kyo, completely ignoring and shadowing Medicine, who in turn growls and glares while plotting her revenge.

The silver-haired girl raises her eyebrow, then asks "wait, before we help you, who exactly is trying to eat you?"

"Koishi! That mind reader that plays with the subconscious. From the underground," nervously says the boy while still on his knees, then turns to the young history teacher and whispers "she wants to do things to my body."

Keine and Luna giggle, then the hot teacher points toward her school and says "you can hide here if you want. I doubt a satori would look in there. Not with me around, at least."

Drake jumps to his feet and gives the sexy woman a warm and friendly hug, making her blush tomato red as she feels those strong arms wrapping themselves around her.

While hugging that woman, he happily cries "thankyouthankyouthankyou!", then releases her and happily says "now please, show me the way!"

"Just like I told you. He's right here," comes the voice of the bad girl of poison, whom is glad to accept a large sum of money from the grateful satori, who says "your assistance is most appreciated, young lady."

Koishi looks toward the godling, smiles mischievously, playfully waves her fingers at him, and says "there you are my cute pervert~ Just wait until I get my hands on **you**."

"Yeah, yeah, just let me count these before you go," comments the blonde.

As soon as the money is accounted for, and the approving pat is given, the boy's face turns blue, and quickly dashes away, only to crash against something soft, yet solid enough to stop him in his tracks.

He looks up at the obstacle, and soon after, his face turns pale, then blue, then green, then yellow, and then he whimpers "he-hello. Um... n-nice to see you again."

The humans and half youkai all gasp and take several steps back while keeping their defenses up, Medicine stares unamused, and Koishi just stands in place, pulls some popcorn from under her hat, and watches.

Kasen stands tall, and repeatedly punches her bandage fist on her palm, grins widely while looking down on the shivering god-in-training, then lets the beast lose on the poor boy.

She winds up her right fist, and after landing it on the boy's chin she says "I FINALLY FOUND YOU!"

While he groans and coughs after being lifted off the ground, she lifts her left knee, striking his ribs and saying "YOU CAUSED ONE HELL OF A MESS!"

She links her hands into one massive fist, swings them down on his back, and shouts "**YOU EVEN COMMITTED MURDER!**", then the boy coughs hard before crashing even harder on the ground, and tasting grass and soil.

Drake lifts his face, spits a chunk of grass and dirt out of his mouth, lifts his shaking body and right arm to address Kasen, and says "but I-"

The hermit lifts her right leg and kicks the boy to the air, jumps after him, and while in mind-air, she throws a barrage of kicks and punches while saying "you have stepped WAY OUT OF LINE, LITTLE MAN!"

She beats him up so hard and so fast, she causes a bright light to shine from the godling's very body, and Keine, Kyo, Luna and Medicine watch with their sunglasses secure on their eyes.

The light slowly fades away, there a loud thump, then Kyo whistles while removing his sunglasses, and says "now that is some good, old fashion ass kicking at its very finest."

The girls remove their sunglasses and nod, while in the background, Medicine pats herself around the top of her skirt, fails to find her underwear, blushes, then discretely slides away.

Meanwhile, Kasen grabs Drake by the right foot, then proceeds to pull him away while saying "you're coming with **me**. I am going to train you until your very hair **shines** with divine wisdom!"

Her pull is short, and angrily turns around after feeling a tug, ready to scold that godling some more, but instead she finds herself facing the blushing Koishi, who is pulling the agonizing boy by the other leg, forcing him to do a perfect upside-down leg split.

Ignoring the groans of pain from that boy, the hermit angrily demands "let him go! I have to train him to make him an exemplary deity!"

Ignoring the horrible crack after pulling against the pink-haired girl, the subconscious girl demands "you let him go! I saw him first, and I want to have fun with this cute little pervert!"

Kasen prepares to speak a well thought out argument, but Koishi abruptly says "see? He's thinking very naughty things right now. *Sigh* I'm a little jealous of that girl, whomever she is."

"STOP DOING THAT!", cries Drake, while covering up his pained groin with his hands.

The hermit's argument becomes a surprised hiccup, then the perverted youkai adds "ahh, the things I'll do to him. I can't wait to get him home and-"

"**CUT THAT OUT, you sick little pervert,**" cries Kasen while covering her ears.

The girls quickly stop arguing, then Luna laughs as she points toward the northern exit, and says "you better get a move on, or you'll never catch him."

Starstriker is already a dark dot in the distance, kicking up dust and crying "somebody heeeeelp," as he runs away from those two insane girls.

"WAIT FOR ME, MAN-MEAT," shouts Koishi as she takes off running, kicking dust in the face of the hermit.

Kasen growls furiously as bits of dirt slide off her cheeks, her eyes twitch, her teeth seem to grow as she snarls, then takes off running while shouting "come **BACK HERE** Starstriker! You and I are going to **TRAIN!**"

The villagers all watch as the girls run after that fleeing godling, then Kyo laugh out loud, holds his sides, then says "oh this is rich! A frightened god, a heated satori, and a pissed hermit running through Gensokyo. How I wish I had a camcorder and internet access! I'd post this on that old web site in a **heartbeat!**"

Luna taps her man on the shoulder, killing his joyous plotting, and whispers "Kyo, honey, we have to go to the Moriya shrine now. It's almost time."

The boy twitches, his face becomes cold and stiff, then he nods and softly says "oh, that's right. Ail," then they both turn to Keine, bow politely and the muscled man says "thank you for your help Keine-san."

The hot teacher nods, slightly bows, exposing her glorious cleavage from the opening in her shirt's collar, then says "no problem. I'm sure he'll appreciate the sacrifice you guys are making."

The couple nod, bow their heads once more, then turn around and fly away, quickly joined in the air by Medicine, who is struggling to put on her underwear while shouting "wait! That girl took my underwear! Let me just- ARGH! WAIT! JUST WAIT!"

* * *

At the very same moment that scene unfolds in the village, at the Hakurei Shrine, Rika hums a soothing tune for herself while sweeping the back of the shrine, where she's discovering a square formation made with stone slabs underneath years of collected dirt.

Reimu watches from the veranda with a neutral face while drinking tea, but looking deep into her eyes it becomes clear she's embarrassed of Rika's findings.

Behind that embarrassment, there is a slight bit of pain when she notices a longing sadness in her maid's voice, and just like that, she takes full notice that the well endowed maid is still missing her scarf, after all this time.

Before she can raise the question for said garment, the crash and thud, followed by that annoying "Rika! I came to beat up your perverted mistress," causes the maiden to lose her train of thought.

A vein pulsates on the maiden's forehead, growing larger and turning red as those familiarly rough footsteps get closer, and at the very same time as her maid, the Hakurei Maiden says "**hello Tenshi**," but the red and white adds a "you annoying thing," right after the greeting.

That celestial goes straight to Reimu, bumps foreheads with her rival, and keeping he teeth clenched in a grin, she says "you got a lot of nerve! You still have to answer for groping Rika last night."

The armpit maiden just sits there, smiling and scowling at the annoying girl with blue hair, then relaxes with a sigh and softly, but sternly, says "please sit down. I need to speak with you... about Rika."

The celestial catches on to the seriousness in the maiden's voice and backs off, walks around the girl, then sits to her right and says "alright, tell me what happened. This orb thing turned off after I threatened you last night."

The red and white sighs, thinks hard before speaking, then from the courtyard, the cute winged maid asks "my lady, are you alright? You don't look so well. Momoko, could you check her temperature for me?"

Before either shrine maiden or celestial can reply, Suzaku flies to her master's shoulder, and so that everybody hears her, she telepathically says "_Rika-sama, mom is alright. Please allow her to speak with Miss Tenshi, and let us tend to this dirty courtyard._"

Ignoring the severely blunt jab at her laziness, Reimu clears her throat as she looks to the celestial, and says "look, Rika has been going through a lot lately, and more crap keeps falling on her. I am a little worried about her."

The blue haired celestial stares back, wonders if this is some kind of trick, and raises an eyebrow wile asking "alright Hakurei, what are you up to now?"

"Please **LISTEN,** you annoying brat!" spits the maiden, getting the girl's full attention.

She relaxes with a few deep breaths, then continues "all I want is for that girl to be happy again, to enjoy her life here in Gensokyo."

Tenshi is about to comment on the meaning of all that yapping, but Reimu continues "I am her mistress, and if I order her to do so, she'll spit out all she's holding back inside her heart again. You, on the other hand, have been her friend for a... very long time."

Before the expected age argument takes over the conversation, the maiden raises her voice "**and that is why**... of all the people that care about her here, which I believe are plenty, **you** have the best chance to get into her heart and mind without forcing yourself in, to make her spill her feelings before she breaks. Help me. Help us all open that incorrigible maid up again, before she breaks down."

The celestial is left speechless. She expected to hear a challenge, a threat for Rika, or perhaps something else, but never in her mind crossed the thought of the Hakurei Maiden asking for help with said maid.

She smiles, though instead of that smug, annoying, bratty smile of hers, the peach-loving girl uses a warm and friendly smile, the kind of smile she throws at her friend all the time, then nods and softly says "heh, I see. Normally, this is the part I brag and rub in your face, but we're talking about **her**, so this time, and only this time, I'll accept and give you my word, I will help you sooth her woes."

Reimu smiles back, giggles lightly, then says "thank you. With your help, I am sure she'll come through."

The girls exchange happy smiles and giggles, then from the side, their favorite girl exclaims "hya~ My lady? Tenshi? Getting along?"

The happy faces become blushing embarrassments, and before either can stammer some form of excuse for their behavior, Rika jumps between them with a big smile and tears in her eyes, and wraps her arms around both their necks.

In her excitement, she starts to cry as she says "I'm so happy! *sniff* This makes me so very happy! *sob* My two favorite people in the world, getting along so well! *sniff-sniffle* I love you two so much!"

The two girls' embarrassed faces become hot, happy, goofy, drooling faces, and not wanting to spoil the moment, those two blissful girls nod in agreement to just pat that gorgeous winged girl's back and enjoy the ride.

At that very moment, "REEIMUUUUUU! We came over to play, ze," that tomboyish voice in the sky completely destroys their bliss, and to add salt to injury, a second voice says "really, you should act more civilized. You're like a child."

Alice and Marisa approach the warm group hug from the sky, and before the witch replies in her usual, rude manner, Shanghai gently bops her head and says "you should take Mama Alice's advice, for once."

"Pipe down pipsqueak," replies the rude black and white, to which Hourai angrily says "hey! Don't call my sister a pipsqueak! Only I can do that!"

Even the angelic maid quickly composes herself between her friend and mistress, and sits elegantly between the two happily embarrassed girls, making as though she's serving them tea.

"Ma...Marisa, Alice, what a surprise," says Reimu in a low tone of voice.

The two blonde magicians slowly descend in front of the girls, and while the rude one says "you don't have to sound that disappointed," the polite one stares and asks "why are you guys so red? Do you guys have a fever?"

All three girls chuckle weakly, but none of them respond, though the Hakurei Maiden thinks "_great. They're going to make a party, I just know it._"

Catching on to the armpit girl's thoughts, Suzaku says "_I'll help master make the preparations mom, so don't worry about it._"

* * *

Later that day, after several turns, Drake pants desperately as he runs aimlessly through the dirt road toward who-knows-where.

He hasn't looked back for a long time, but he doesn't have to do so to know Koishi and Kasen are back there in the distance, one wanting to ravage him senseless, the other wanting to train him to the death.

A smile graces the god's face when his eyes land upon Byakuren, who stands tall atop the stairs leading to the temple's inside in the far distance, and with overwhelming excitement, and tears of joy in his eyes, he screams "MISS BYAKUREEEEEEENNNNNNN!"

The Youkrist sees the boy running straight at her with those desperate eyes going right toward her, yelps out loud, then shouts "we're under attack!"

Nue, Orange and Kyouko appear on the front yards, along with several fairies and other smaller youkai, Ichirin, Unzan, Nazrin and Kogasa take Byakuren's sides, along with other, larger and stronger youkai, and Shou takes the top of the roof, along with the little red-haired groping fairy that dresses like the Bishamonten Disciple.

"**FIREEEEEEE!**"

Nobody is really sure who issued the command, but the insanely colorful and bright volley that flies toward the god is so impressive, even Patchouli marvels in awe while looking out one of the few small windows in her library.

Back at the temple grounds, Drake moves left, right, slides, summersaults, backflips, rolls, slides again, sways right, jumps, and finally dives through bullets, to reach those stair and run up the gradient-haired woman.

He takes another dive toward the nervous monk, slides face-first toward her feet, and after a miniature Orange appears from the left with a sign that reads "SAFE" and runs away, the god in training gets on his knees and cups his hands together as in prayer.

"What in the world-?", asks the confused woman before the boy desperately cries "Byakuren, you gotta help me, I BEG of you!"

The confusion and shock in the curvy woman's, and all the surrounding youkai's faces, is more than enough of an indication for the godling to sigh and explain, yet again.

"Alright, I'll explain. *Ahem* There's a cute girl called a satori, who can mess with the subconscious, that wants to STEAL my first time, even though I keep TELLING her that's reserved for Mina! Then there's this insane hermit that wants to beat the hell out of me for... *blush* not listening to her advice, AND she wants to train me too! And now I repeat, PLEASE HELP ME! I beg of you, please!"

Of all the words spewed out of that not-so-godly mouth, the magician monk reacts particularly unsettled to just one, and grabbing Drake by the shoulders to lift him up and look eye-to-eye, she exclaims "wait, did you just say a HERMIT?"

"There you are, Starstriker," furiously declares Kasen as she walks up those stairs of doom, and continues "you've got **nowhere** else to run to! Now get over here before I... er, I-"

When she realizes she's in a youkai temple, her fury becomes a slight jolt of fear as her awareness of the situation gives rise to the realization of the deep shit she just got herself into.

***SWISH***

***BOOM***

***CLANG***

***CREEEESSSHHHHH***

The pink-haired girl runs down those stairs, as if her life depended on it, while Byakuren places a massive barrier that blocks the many youkai relentless attacks, and shouts "just keep running while I hold them back!"

Behind the barrier, Drake was the only casualty of the desperate assault from the hungry youkai, but nobody, except maybe Kogasa, who glances from the ceiling, gives a damn about that godling.

Kasen is now running on the front yard, spin-kicks a small red youkai out of her way, ducks and slides under a slippery pink youkai girl, gives a big hairy ape-like woman an uppercut, then takes off as fast as she can, as far away as she can from the temple.

Once she's at a safe distance, and she's taken several breaths of fresh air, she shouts "**THIS ISN'T OVER, STARSTRIKER!**"

The magician monk sighs with relief, dispels her barrier, and while her trusted girls keep the other youkai from chasing after the hermit, she grabs Drake by the arms, lifts him off the ground, and shakes him violently while exclaiming "what is your problem? Stop trying to kill others just because you don't like them!"

"Bu-u-u-ut I-aye-aye di-i-dn't," says the boy while being shaken hard, though Byakuren stops her assault so that the god may continue "she... came after me to beat me up. Like I told you before."

The sexy monk drops the boy to the floor, turns around and places her fist on her waist, points with her right hand and shakes it as if scolding a child, then anxiously says "miss hermit, please have better judgment of your actions in the future!"

"**But I have to train him!**", replies Kasen from the distance, waving her arms in the air.

Byakuren turns around to address that godling, then gasps and exclaims "**KYAH! What is the meaning of this!**"

Koishi has slipped in unnoticed, and is currently violating the god boy's lips with a soul-sucking kiss right in front of the Youkhrist's blushing face.

Drake's tries to scream, but they come out as groaned moans, and after a sudden blunt impact that makes him see stars for a minute, he can feel his breath return, and screams "**THANK YOU!**", while flying off toward Kasen's direction, though safely flying over her head, to his luck.

The subconscious girl glares at the tiger youkai holding a spear, then angrily says "I had him, and you batted him away! Why did you do that? ARGH! You're going to pay for that!"

Shou strikes the floor with the wooden end of her spear as she looks down at the angry little pervert, and angrily says "I don't know what kind of teachings you've received as a child, but that was NOT proper behavior! A kiss like that should be saved for when the couple is on their own, and furthermore-"

The tiger girl now lies on Byakuren's lap, as said woman combs her hair in a warm and motherly way.

Both girls open their eyes wide, look around, then Byakuren asks "um, Shou, what just happened?"

Toramaru shrieks as she springs on her seat, and exclaims "HEY! Where's that girl? What am I doing here? What happened Lady Hijiri?"

Kyouko and Orange chuckle, while watching their two leaders freak out and looking around for that satori, then the yamabiko jokingly says "well, it seems we're surrounded by raging lesbians."

The short shorts girl chuckles, gets closer to the teal-haired girl's ear, and whispers "I think Shou's the-"

"Alright, stop it right there!"

The girls are grabbed from behind their necks by a pair of pale hands.

They turn around with fright to face Nue, who scowls and says "no more! I'm really sick of that stupid lesbian debate! That goes double for you, windpipe gremlin!"

Kyouko frowns, turns around completely, knocking the nue's hand off, and angrily declares "well at least I HAVE boobs, you jealous cutting board!"

Orange yelps when the undefined girl throws her away to grab the yamabiko by the shirt and threaten "I am going to rip those damned ears and make myself a new scarf!"

The baton wielding cutie jumps on Nue's back and shouts "leave her alone! Only I get to threaten her," while hammering the curvy girl in black with said baton on the head.

The undefined cutie grabs Orange by the hair, Kyouko by the ear, pulls hard on both, and once free of the assaulting girl she furiously declares "you two weaklings are gonna get it now!"

The three girls square off for a second, and make a moving fight cloud in an instant, beating up every single fairy or youkai that gets in their way.

Byakuren and Shou stare from the stairs, then the monk rubs her forehead and moans from her headache, while the tiger groans and says "it's like having a giant day-care center sometimes."

* * *

At the same time, at the Hakurei Shrine, Yuki and Mai come from the Human Village's direction, both holding bags with sweets in them, and land in front of the donation box, where the ice witch complains "great. Thanks to you, I'm going to have to get on a diet."

The fire blonde chews on some peach-filled, peach-shaped manju, and happily says "jon't be wike *slurp* shyat. Jusht enjoy wife." (Don't be like that. Just enjoy life.)

Marisa and Suzaku peek their heads from behind the dusty old box, then the friendly human waves her hands at the guests, and says "hey, it's those witches from Makai! How are ya!"

"Oh, it's my clone," casually says Yuki, while Mai waves her fingers while nonchalantly saying "'sup? Just came to visit. No need to shoot."

The red bird is sinking her claws on the ordinary witch's face, and pulls on the Hakkero-arm while telepathically saying "_Miss Yuki, Miss Mai, welcome! Master Rika will be so pleased to see you!_"

While Marisa grunts, struggles and argues "but she said shoot," the Makaians approach the girls, bow politely, then the winged ice cutie says "Miss Suzaku. I'd like to personally thank you for curing Yuki's retarded phobia of pink. It was driving me NUTS!"

The black and white Makaian gasps and wants to complain, when the vermilion bird says "_it was my pleasure. Rika's sisters should be strong, and less whiny than that, I believe._"

"Oh, COME ON! Don't start picking on me like that!", furiously cries the flaming girl with tears dangling under her eyes.

Suzaku seems to caw a laugh before releasing Marisa, and flapping a wing against her head to knock her inside the donation box, and upon landing on said box's edge, says "_I'm sorry. I was just having a bit of fun with you._"

"Well, you all seem to be having fun out here. Mind if I join you?"

All but the boxed witch look to the right of the shrine and lay their eyes on Rika, who cautiously walks over with a weak smile and tired eyes toward her sisters.

The child-like blonde jumps and lands right in front of the maid for a surprise hug while saying "Rika~" in a lovingly manner, while the winged ice witch coldly waves from where she stands with a quick "hey sis."

The red bird takes notice of how happily her master reacts to Yuki's hug and Mai's nonchalant greeting, and even longs for such a warm return hug like the fire witch is receiving, but her thoughts are put on hold when Marisa grabs her by those bird legs and pulls her into the box, where a fight immediately takes place.

Completely disregarding the fight cloud, squawks, yelps, and smacks, the sexy maid pushes her blonde sister away and asks "so, what are you two doing here?"

Yuki looks away while chuckling, then says "we were a party of three, but it seems **LUIZE** decided to go sightseeing."

Somewhere over the Youkai Forest, the sunhat Makaian screeches as she flies away from a pack of great fairies.

She stops her screeching to cry "but they attacked me first! It's not my fault they died from one blast. Heeee," only to anger her attackers even more, and now add sharp kunai to their surprisingly insane volley of bullets.

Back at the shrine, the fire witch is rubbing her lucky cheeks against Rika's belly, while sweetly asking "hey sis, mom and Yumeko took that bikini away. Could you make me something like that, that I can wear every day without having to wash it?"

The maid's face turns pale, and she turns a very disturbed smile toward her winged sister, who shrugs and says "don't look at me. I told her to take it off and wash it after the third day."

The sexy maid's color bleaches off her skin and clothes, she shivers violently as she moves her head toward her lovey-dovey blonde sister, then...

***SMACK-SMACK-SMACK***

Mai covers her grinning mouth in order to muffle her chuckles while her blonde sister groans and stands on her hand and knees, and rubbing her curvy butt she grunts "u-hu-hu~ Just like Yumeko."

"That's **NOT** funny, Yuki-sis," spits Rika while holding her glowing right hand of justice up in the air as she waits for it to cool down.

"I gave you that to treat that condition, and maybe help you when you needed it, not so that you could do such un-ladylike things!"

The cold witch's chuckles end when she remembers the fight with Drake, and as though reliving her spiritual drain, she falls to the ground, worrying both maid and fire witch, whom call for her while rushing to aid her.

"I told you! You're still weak! Mai, let's just go home and-" pleas Yuki, worried for her long-time partner, who just covers that big mouth and angrily says "I'm fine. Just got a little dizzy."

Rika holds the winged witch, places a glowing mint-green hand on her forehead for healing, and asks "what happened? Why are you like this?"

Mai chuckles weakly after feeling some strength return to her, turns her neck to look at the maid from the side, smiles, and says "you gave that thing to Yuki just in time. This training god-boy entered Makai the other day. Almost killed me and Luize, but Yuki here kicked his butt hard, and softened it so that mom could give him the finishing blow."

The angelic maid's face turns a little red the very moment said girl chokes to suppress an angry snarl, while the ice witch continues "I tell you, if you hadn't given that thing to Yuki, and she hadn't come when she did, mom would be tossing a man's limbs all over Makai for a month."

"What happened? What **exactly happened?**", asks that red-faced maid in a cold and dark tone.

Mai takes notice of Rika's ominous change, but Yuki doesn't, and quickly says "oh, he was trying to kill mom to cleanse the world, he said. Ah, but I came over, and **boom, pow, crack**, and I kicked his butt, and then Yumeko came, and more butt-kicking took place, but I got tired, and Shinki had to come and save our sorry selves again."

The blabbering witch finally takes notice of the maid's face, then panics and says "whoa, sis, calm down! After mom was done with him, he needed to use his sword as a walking stick! She even boiled him in lava!"

Though scowling, the maid smiles viciously, a sight that frightens the two Makaians, though the ice girl does her best to keep looking neutral as she gets back on her feet.

Yuki sighs with relief while holding her sore butt after Mai's recovery, then suddenly jumps back on Rika's embrace, places her face on her adoptive sister's chest, glances upward, and asks "so~ How about something I CAN wear all the time that enhances my abilities like that, huh?"

In a complete change of mood, the maid returns to her usual sweet self as she holds her chin to think, and says "well, I could make the rose pin for your hat, but it will only work at half the capacity of the bikini."

"I'LL TAKE IT," exclaims the fire witch, while Rika continues pondering "and if you mix it with the bikini, the effect will double. Oh dear, but the strain on your body could be dangerous. You could end up hurt, then mama Shinki will probably have to nurse you."

"**I'LL TAKE IT!**", anxiously exclaims Yuki, while the maid continues "then mom will get so worried, come and scold me, treat you to sweets while you recover-"

"**FOR THE LOVE OF MOM'S D-CUPS, I'LL TAKE IT ALREADY!**" desperately screams the girl while shaking the maid by the shoulders.

Disregarding the odd scenery that unfolded next to her, Mai sighs irritably, and says "I can't find our bags of sweets anywhere! Geez, and I was getting hungry too!"

Around the donation box, Tenshi, Reimu, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai enjoy the sweet dango and manju as they watch the girls interact, while inside the donation box, Marisa and Suzaku moan an tweet in pain after beating each other senseless.

The shrine maiden watches as Rika's personality takes a jump toward her old self while around the girls from Makai, but prefers to keep quiet about it, and observe for a little while longer.

At that very moment, a miniature Drake runs straight toward the maid, crying "someone keep them away from meeeeeee!"

Yukari's gap opens up before the armed angel maid gets her chance to slice the godling in half, and just as he enters through it, a miniature version of Koishi runs toward said gap, shouting "wait for me my cute little pervert!"

The miniature Kasen runs by shortly after, shouting "just you WAIT Starstriker! You'll never raise a finger in anger when I'Mthrough with you!"

Just like that, the miniature girls enter the gap, one after the other, and it closes up, leaving Reimu and Rika shocked and surprised, while Yuki and Mai are fighting Tenshi and Alice for the stolen sweets above the shrine.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the back of the Moriya Shrine, at the shore of the lake, a small group of youkai and humans stand around two particular girls, and all look anxious around as they wait.

All the people there consist of some of those friends closest to Ail, whom is present amongst them.

Sanae, Budou, Phredia, Ayalina, Kyo, Luna, Medicine, Kanako, Suwako, Satori, Petal, and Orin.

They all stand around Shikieiki and Komachi, whom look a little anxious themselves, though the Yama has an easier time hiding it.

She approaches the dense boy, sighs, then says "I suppose most of the people here know why we are all here? Or perhaps I need to give a brief explanation."

The boy stares, feeling very uneasy, and uses all of his will to sound as calm as possible, though still sounding nervous and sad through his cracking, dry voice, he says "please do. S-somehow... I've lacked the guts. I know, I'm a coward."

"There... is no cowardice in wanting to protect their trust," casually admits the short Yama, before looking at Kyo, his girl and adopted youkai, Ayalina, who stares back suspiciously, and Orin, then loudly says "Anilan Inmodo Leuch. We stand here today, with these witnesses present, in order to pass knowledge of your punishment for your thoughtless actions."

Those unaware of what exactly has happened look a little surprised, and murmur questions to those standing next to them, while Eiki continues "because of your meddling in the past, you almost destroyed the lives or Reimu Hakurei, Sanae Kochiya, your own, and you almost ruined this land of Gensokyo, as a consequence of those destroyed lives."

The murmurs becomes soft gasps, then Kyo angrily asks "Ail, what the hell? You never told me it was THAT serious!"

"Satori-sama, did you know?" worriedly asks the kasha to her calm master.

The mind reader nods, and softly says "I did, but he didn't want me to tell you because he didn't want to worry you," then looks at the dense one and adds "I supposed it was a mistake to bring you here."

Ail shakes his hands in dismissal and says "it's alright. Everyone's bound to find out after today. There's bound to be some songbirds around here."

Ignoring the winged humanoid figures flying away in the near distance, the muscled boy reaches for his friend's shirt, pulls him closer, and demands "stop being so secretive about this stuff, you idiot!"

"He had no choice. If he talked, I would have spanked him harder."

Mima chuckles after wrapping her arms around her favorite hunk, and in a soft and sweet tone of voice, she adds "add to that fact that I would have **also** had to punish that other nosy busybody he told to as well. Then again, spanking you would have been a treat for me."

Luna's karate-chop strikes her man's neck after the evil spirit moves out of the way, and now she gasps and laments "I'm sorry honey," while said boy kneels on the ground with a sore neck he holds with both hands.

Yukari laughs at Kaizo's misfortune after landing next to Shikieiki, and as soon as all eyes are on her, she joyfully says "so, as Miss Yama here was saying, young Anilan here is to undergo a rather strict punishment, so that if he ever feels the need to act irrationally, he'll give it more thought before actually jumping in all willy-nilly. Isn't that great? This means he'll be acting more like an enlightened person, and less like a responsible, stupid human lemming."

Even Ail, as nervous as he is, joins the entire group in a shock-stare aimed at the insane blonde gap youkai, whom sweats as she covers her nervous face with her mouth, and more sternly says "what? I **wish** I had such help when I was starting out. Heck, I got myself in a lot of trouble before I understood some things and whatnot. And all by the hands of enemies, not friends like our dear boy here."

Ignoring Yukari, Budou runs to her papa, jumps on his arms, then bops him on the head and cries "why does papa keep doing these things? Now I have to be all sad for him again!"

The dense boy cannot find any words to say to the little bat, so instead, he give her a light embrace, which she returns with a tight hug around the neck.

As Phredia, Sanae and Ayalina quietly join in, Komachi softly says "don't feel bad for him. This will be a life-changing experience. When he returns, we promise, he will be better, wiser, and he'll never have to worry about being possessed ever again."

The light nudge on the ribs by Shikieiki signals the busty pink-head to shut up, which she immediately does, then Satori sighs and says "yes, I know. I did notice that. To think that spirit would resurrect like that, just because of a silly time split."

Ail notices as his mother's face becomes cold, and wonders why she's been so quite about all that's been said, but he keeps the thoughts to himself.

"Exactly," begins Mima, who flies over to the Yama, pats her on the back, and says "since it wasn't entirely his fault, his life will be spared..."

"But he is still affected by possession too easily, is too reckless with his border manipulating, has stopped considering the consequences of his actions, and has been neglecting his more natural gifts, which causes a dangerous shift in his own balance," finishes Shikieiki in a warm, but stern tone.

Medicine giggles, walks with Su-san closer to the disbanding group hug, then jokingly says "in short, he's being stupid, smells like idiocy, and if he keeps that up, he'll become impotent."

All eyes are on the poison youkai and her doll counterpart, which causes her to freeze with a smile, shiver, and nervously say "I'll be quiet."

* * *

Shortly after Medicine's retreat, Petal gets cold and stiff, begins to shiver, then grabs Satori, sinks her face on the mind reader's chest, then the purple-haired girl asks "what scary lady? Petal, what's-?", and then she sees the image of the scary lady, and gasps.

Yukari, Mima and Shikieiki are murmuring amongst themselves when they suddenly turn their heads forward, and the Yama calmly says "ah, I was expecting this. I'm surprised you didn't raise your voice sooner, Missis Ayalina."

Ail's mother has a face that could induce fear on the Scarlet Devil herself, but the three beings in front of her don't seem bothered by it at all.

An ominous shadow covers her eyes, her frown looks stone cold, her gaze seems bloodthirsty, and the energy around her sways violently.

The angry woman lifts her right hand to waist height, turns her palm up, opens her hand, and as she slowly gathers energy on it, she asks "and what is this punishment you have for my son? What if **I** am against this? What then? Will you force him to do it after you've killed me, or I've killed you? However the latter may work..."

Eiki glances over to both women beside her, and as they step away, she says "he is to live through the world he almost created himself here. There, he will undergo a trial, and once he is done, he will return here. If he fails, that world will reset itself and he will start over without the memories of his first failure. Perhaps this should be called a learning experience, instead of an actual punishment."

The energy on Ayalina's hand grows into a ball twice the size of her own head, while the Yama continues "whether you are against or in favor of it, he has signed the contract. There is nothing you can do, unless you plan to spend an eternity in hell with the dragons."

The energy orb turns intense green as the young-looking mother's face turns darker and colder, but Ail stands between her and Shikieiki, spreads his arms open, and with some fear in his voice, he talks to her.

"Mom, cut it out! What's gotten into you? I already signed that contract, so just stop."

Instead of getting scolded and punished, he watches in surprise as his mother lowers her guard and looks at him with terror in her eyes, and says "sweetie! D-don't tell me these witches washed your brain as well?"

There is a short pause of wonder as everyone analyzes how can the washing of a brain fit into the conversation, but the dense one snaps out it and exclaims "what? No, no, mom, listen to me! I have to do this! It is very important I do."

"Why? She said so herself! You were possessed. Whatever happened was not YOUR fault, so why punish you, huh? I won't let them hurt my baby!"

The enraged woman throws a full-powered orb straight at Eiki's face, and it lifts up a bit of smoke upon impact.

Komachi's frame now stands in front of the Yama's, holding her scythe diagonally after having dispelled that magic attack, though not before getting half of her shirt burned off and exposing a while bikini top under her usual getup.

Nobody moves, though all seem to be holding up magical barriers, just in case, while Ayalina and Ail continue facing each other as though ready to attack.

The young mother snorts, turns around, then says "f-fine! I get it! You're too good for your mother. You're just too cool and want to show off, and go hurt yourself like an idiot, well, **SEE IF I CARE ANYMORE!**"

As the dense boy watches his mother take off and fly away, fuming and throwing punches in the air, the realization of what he just did hangs heavy on his shoulders, and he drops on his knees and looks to the ground.

He's ashamed of his mother's actions and thinks of ways to apologize to Eiki, while at the same time, he wants to go after his mother and make her see the reason he has to go through with that punishment of his.

Before his thoughts swallow him up, he feels two hands touching the back of his neck, and upon looking up and to his right, Budou quickly cries "don't be sad, papa! Grandma is just like that."

Before he replies, he looks to the left at Petal, who kisses his forehead and softly says "Ali-Ail good Momkuu friend. Shatori-shama-love like Ali-Ail. Smiles, for you make Petal smile, okey?"

Just like that, his heart and shoulders feel lighter, a smile takes his frown over, and after he takes a deep breath of air, he palaces his hands on both girls' heads, chuckles, looks at the bat, and softly says "you're right. Mom is quite stubborn, but she'll come around eventually," then looks at the little raven, smiles wider, and says "I'll stop being sad and smile, so go ahead and smile too."

Sanae quickly joins the little girls, kneels beside her man, grabs his face and gives him a quick kiss, then softly says "that's it Ail-kun. Show us that strength of yours."

Orin and Satori get closer, then the Chireiden master smiles lightly and says "don't worry, she just wants to cool off anyway."

Shikieiki remains where she is as she sighs after that tension leaves the atmosphere, then takes a deep breath of air and says "everyone!"

After all eyes are on her, she pulls her shirt off, which somehow takes her hat, skirt and shoes off, leaving her with a dark-green swimsuit with an ample opening on the back, and declares "now that business is concluded, I declare this to be a day of merriment! Let us fill our dear Ail's memories with the warmth of love and friendship!"

With that, even Kyo and Luna pull their clothes off completely and end up in their swimsuits; the boy a pair of trunks with white on the left and red and the right, and the girl with the green bikini she brought from the outside world; and after both ogle at each other, the woman declares "SWIMMING PARTYYYY~!"

Komachi reveals the rest of her white bikini with a V-cut bottom, and showing off enough meat to feed the eyes of a hundred lonely men, she flies above the water and declares "epic death-defying dive HOORAY," then lets herself drop head-first into the water.

Shortly after, all but Sanae and Ail are in the water, the two lovebirds slowly making their way to the lake's shore while holding hands.

The shrine maiden in the tight blue swimsuit with white polka dots looks at the dense boy in purple trunks, and asks "are you going to be alright, Ail-kun?"

He smiles at her and nods, then says "yes, I'll be fine. You go on ahead. I need to be alone for a bit."

She frowns, hesitantly releases his hand, and as she makes it backward into the water, she says "I'll be here if you need me, honey. Just call, and I'll be there."

He nods and smiles weakly at her and can see she can't smile back, that she's unconvinced of his words, then Suwako calls "come on Sanae! Let's teach these noobs how to play REAL beach volleyball," and she finally turns around and heads over to the goddesses, Petal, who wears an adorable red swimsuit with a raven print on the front, and Budou, who wears a white, grape-prints bikini with a short-skirted bottom.

After half an hour passes by, Ail still sits by himself on the shore, away from his friends, who seem to be having the times of their lives.

Shikieiki's hair hangs lose, a really rare sight, reaches down to her lower back, and swings left and right as she walks over to the dense boy.

"Heh, well, look at you. You look much better with your hair like that, Miss Eiki," says the dense one while looking at the water's reflection.

The Yama places the back of her hand over her lips as she chuckles, then sits down next to Ail, and asks "so, you **do** have a thing for green haired girls. ...Are you really that scared?"

He smiles at her, though it comes followed by fear and sadness, and noticing her awareness of his feelings, he sighs and admits "yes, I'm also very confused. You say I'm going to live in that world I almost created due to my actions. I have had nightmares of a world affected by my meddling, and now I have to face that fear. Yes, **I. am. scared. witless.**"

Eiki looks toward the lake, remains silent as she waits for anything else to come out of that boy, but when he says nothing, she softly says "don't be."

Ail quickly turns to face the Yama, who continues looking toward the water as she says "maybe calling this a punishment was a bad idea, but that spirit wanted to scare you. But no, this isn't an actual punishment, as it is more a powerful learning experience. One that, if you succeed, will raise your spirit, your wisdom and will, to new heights, not to mention it will show you who you truly are."

The dense boy lets out a light gasp, when the swimsuit Yama smiles and says "I know you changed as a request of your girlfriend. You are a good person, Ail. A little dense sometimes. With this experience, you will regain yourself, and you will understand why changing so much was a mistake for you."

He can't form words on his mouth or mind as more confusion fills him, taking quick notice of this, Shikieiki giggles to snap him out of his thoughts, stands up and grabs his arm, forces him up, then says "come. This party is for you, and it is important you take part of it!"

Sounding more sternly, she adds "come. Wasting the chance to make wonderful memories with your loved ones is a sin, so come with us and have fun. You'll thank us all for this later."

The boy finally loosens up and starts to laugh, and says "alright, alright, let's go. Hahah, fine, I'll enjoy my time with you guys."

She stops shoving him and walks beside him as they make their way toward the group playing in the water, when Ail suddenly says "hey, Eiki-sama? Thank you, my friend."

The girl smiles, sighs, then says "you're welcome," and after thinking for a bit, she adds "you know what? You and Rika are a handful for me, but I am happy that I got to know you both in a more personal level."

Ail chuckles after placing his arm around the slightly shorter girl, then waves at his friends as he energetically calls to them, and quickly uses a spell to splash a lot of water on everyone's faces.

They all stare flatly at him for a while, then smile, place their hands in the water, then the cunning Anilan pulls the Yama in front so that she takes the splashes to the face, earning a flat stare, then a mischievous chuckle from her.

* * *

At noon, down at the base of the Youkai Mountain, Drake desperately catches his breath as he rests against the mountain wall, and while looking behind himself, he gasps hard and says "good. They're not there. M... maybe I can rest a little longer."

Hina Kagiyama descends slowly to his left, and smiles with a flushed and hungry face she holds with her hands as she accommodates her body to land on her feet, instead of her stomach, as originally planned; the failure obvious when she sighs irritably while composing herself.

The godling watches with horror as his goddess colleague with the lustful face slowly gets closer to him, and before he panics and runs away again, she smiles sweetly and asks "what'cha doin'?"

The boy remains perfectly still, making the misfortune-collecting goddess frown sadly, and say "you don't have to be shy. I won't bite," then adds in a very low undertone "much."

"I saw your face," says the cautious god boy as he takes precautious steps away from the girl.

"You're full of lust. I'm not some man-candy for your girls, so you can just forget it!"

Hina blushes hard, holds her face, whines playfully, and after an adorable giggle, she says "oh my, I didn't mean to scare you like that. It's just that you're so **FULL** of misfortunes. It surrounds you, clings to you, *drools* and there's just so MUCH! Please let me take it all! **Give it all to me! I can take it!**"

He looks into those crazed, hungry eyes of the heated goddess, backs away faster, though still cautious, and says "no way lady. You're not fooling me! I can see you only have ulterior motives in those eyes!"

"Don't be such a wimp," spits the girl as she frowns with frustration.

Drake keeps moving backward until he feels he's far away enough, then turns around just in time to receive a powerfully blunt impact on his left cheek, which sends him spinning in the air several times before crashing on his face on to the ground, drilling that one spot with his nose, and finally dropping semi-conscious.

Shizuha holds her tightly balled fist in mid air while scowling furiously at the god in training, and as Minoriko applauds from behind her older sister, the leaf goddess angrily says "that's payback for breaking our house down during the rain time, you meanie-head!"

Even the present misfortune goddess giggles nervously as she admits "that's so like you, Shizuha."

The bountiful goddess of harvests stands beside the green-haired cutie while holding her forehead in shame, sighs, and says "let it go Hina-san. That's her best insult yet."

The cute green-haired girl giggles out loud, her lustful smile returns, then begins to slowly approach the fallen boy while softly cooing "now then~ Time to take all that misfortune~"

"Hey, wait," calls Shizuha, making Hina groan and asks "what now?"

The goddess of turning leaves points two feet to the unfortunate one's left, and asks "what's that squiggly thing there?"

Her little sister and spinning friend stare at the spot being pointed at, each raises an eyebrow, look at the older Aki, then Minoriko says "that's it onee-chan, you are going to see that doctor."

"But it's there I tell you," cries the blonde after swinging her fists below her waist.

Unknown to them, Koishi is slowly approaching the recovering godling, planning her quick, lustful strike as carefully as she can.

She drools as she watches him rub his neck and shake his head, smiles and giggles softly when that subconscious desire for Mina returns, blushes when she's only two feet away from grasping that manly back, then...

***SMASH!***

The boy screams as he is sent flying through the air, howls as he rapidly approaches the Misty Lake, and grunts every time his body hits the water, and bounces off like some smooth rock.

Back at the forest, Kasen shields her eyes from the sun as she looks beyond the trees, and smiles while sighing with satisfaction, and says "oh yeah, that was a nice kick."

She gasps hard when the realization of her own stupidity reaches her conscious mind, then exclaims "wait! ARGH! Dammit! I was supposed to CATCH him! Grr! Now I'll have to chase after him again!"

The goddesses approach the Hermit; Hina looking particularly agitated;, but before any kind of words can be dispensed, Koishi reveals herself to the group.

Tears hang under her puffy, scowling, bloodshot eyes, her arms hang stiff under her waist with a pair of fists clenched tight, her cheeks are puffed by her held breath, angry whimpers escape her throat, and ignoring the obvious signs of anger, Shizuha happily points at the satori and says "HA! I knew there was something there!"

The next instant, Kasen finds herself passionately kissing Shizuha, Minoriko is passionately kissing Hina, and all four girls rapidly take notice of the fact that they are in their underwear.

They all push each other away, scream, spit, then Hina, who wears black, semi-transparent bra and panties with tiny frills, complains "guh! I was SO not looking forward for a girl today!"

Kasen, who wears a traditional sarashi, and a pair of metallic-pink panties, gags and exclaims "ohh what have I done? I lack training! I'm supposed to be above these kind of desires!"

Shizuha, who wears a mismatching set of a blue bra, and white panties with a tiny red bow in front, sobs and cries "sis! Sis, what happened? Uuu~ Now my boyfriend won't want to marry me! I'M SPOILED!"

Minoriko, who wears a red, push-up sports bra that accents her already ample chest, and a red and orange pair of panties, furiously exclaims "where is that gray-haired bitch! This is her fault, I just know it!"

They all look around for Koishi, but instead of finding her, they find their clothes, hanging all the way on the top of the two highest trees in the forest.

They all stare and stare for what feels like a whole minute, then they all turn to each other, point, then say "**YOU GO GET 'EM!**"

"What? No way I'm exposing my skin! You do it," demands Kasen.

"You're the one that brought this calamity on us! You get them," furiously demands Minoriko to the hermit.

"I was about to take so much misfortune, and from such a handsome man too. Now I'm feeling sad," laments Hina, who sigs and drops on her knees.

While the harvest goddess and the hermit argue, and the spinning girl laments some more, Shizuha sighs, shrugs, and even though nobody listens to her, she casually takes flight and says "I'll get them," and blushes as she rises above the smaller trees.

* * *

At the same time, Ayalina flies aimlessly over Gensokyo, muttering angrily to herself, angry at those women for wanting to punish her baby boy, and feeling a sickening mixture of fury and disappointment toward her son, who blatantly challenged her to protect those very girls.

"Those harpies brainwashed him, it's the only explanation. My baby would never side with them! *Mutter-grumble* ...and then he stops **listening**, and even challenges his mother! **His MOTHER**, for crap's sake!"

She lands on a place filled with an overwhelmingly soothing aroma of flowers, breathes in the wonderful scent, then says to herself "well, this makes me feel quite nostalgic. Hah~ I'm also feeling soothed. I needed that."

Without realizing it, she has landed right next to her son's giant blue and white flower, in Yuka's territory, at the Garden of the Sun.

She finds herself surrounded by hundreds of withering sunflowers, as well as some other varieties of flowers that appear to be taking over for the winter time.

She finally takes notice of the giant flower behind herself, stares awestruck, then finally says to herself "hey, that's my Anilan's energy!"

The young-looking mother is quickly surrounded by a thick yellow beam, while from the sky, Yuka demands "I don't recall having invited you to my garden. Tell me your name, so that I may add you to my shit list, then SCRAM lady!"

The flower master in the sky gasps with surprise upon ending her beam, and seeing her new target is alive and unscathed, save for a smudge on the bottom of her skirt, then scowls when she realizes that very woman holds a giant sunflower in front of herself, which she had obviously plucked off the ground to use like a shield.

Ayalina swings the sunflower around herself with amazing skill as it shrinks, mostly to show off, a new stem grows from it and she replants it back where it originally was, leaving it exactly as she found it, then looks up at Yuka in the sky and smiles.

"The name's Ayalina Leuch Higani, and I'm curious as to why you have a flower with my Ail's energy all over it. What are you to my baby?"

Yuka smiles back, chuckles, points her umbrella, and a massive yellow ball of energy explodes right where the overprotective mother stands, but as the smoke clears, it becomes clear her target moved, specifically five feet in front of her in mid-air.

The green-haired flower master shrugs, scoffs, then taunts "he's my little pet, mom. What are you going to do about it, I wonder."

The parasol-carrying woman gasps angrily as she watches the flowers below her wither to dust to become energy that surrounds the brown-haired flower youkai in a field, but before she can complain, that energy becomes large pink and yellow orbs that fly forward and return to the field where they came from after miserably missing their target.

Ayalina scoffs with a confident grin, then frowns and moves away from her opponent to avoid a shower of spinning lilac flowers that move like flying bladed disks.

Watching the young-looking mother turn her own flowers bullets into energy for her field makes Yuka snarl and click her tongue in disgust.

She raises her parasol and starts shooting a massive barrage of large yellow bullets that brighten the late noon sky, while Ail's mother takes her energy field off to return the exact number of pink bullets that counter the opposing volley.

Right after the bullets explode and disappear, the two flower youkai fly toward each other, winding their fists behind their heads and smiling viciously.

Yuka lands a punch straight on Ayalina's cheek, while at the same time, then green-plaid-dressed woman lands a solid knee on the red-plaid-dressed woman's stomach, and end up pushing each other away from the force of the impact.

After recovering from the shock, they lunge at each other again, and the green-haired woman lands a fist on her opponent's groin, and the brown-haired woman lands a fist in the center of her opponent's chest, right between those large, lewd sacks of meat, breaking a hole on that pink shirt.

The girls back away and rub their sore sensitive spots, then the young-looking mother grins and says "you fight dirty, you sick bitch. I like that."

The sexy green-hair grips the skin between her breasts, grins, then says "I'll make a new shirt out of that precious skin of yours, you cheap-shot."

Yuka summons a ridiculous volley of flowers and yellow orbs, and surrounds herself with them, while Ayalina takes the energy of a massive group of flowers to turn them into energy bullets, then both women roar as they and their bullets move forward.

The ground trembles as those two massive powers collide; their bullets exploding with extreme force, and their fists striking with enough power to cause trembling shockwaves.

As they punch each other on the face and stomach, their very own bullets strike them on other parts of their bodies, yet they continue their attacks as if nothing, smiling viciously while keeping their eyes set on each other.

The volley of bullets ends, and the two women land one more cheap shot on each others' chests, then back away to square off.

Yuka holds her left breast and grimaces as she grunts "you evil, sick little cheap shooting witch. You're quite a lot of fun."

Ayalina crosses her arms over her entire chest and gently squeezes herself, winces, and softly says "why thank you. You're quite a lot of fun as well. What's your name?"

"Yuka Kazami. Now I'm sorry, but as much fun as you are, I will have to kill you for murdering all my flowers, and turning them all into those bullets," declares the flower woman in red tattered clothes after recovering from the throbbing pain.

The flower woman in the burned green dress sighs, then says "but I'd never murder flowers for a fight! I just turn them into energy, then return them to where they belong. See?"

She uncrosses her arms to wave her left arm around, revealing a large hole right in the middle of her shirt's chest and exposing a great cleavage, and most of the energy she had used returns to the soil to become regrown flowers.

The green haired woman watches with amazement as her precious flowers come back to life right before her eyes, and after relaxing, and letting her destroyed skirt fall off to expose her pink panties and hot legs, she excitedly exclaims "my friends are all back! Well, then I guess I won't have to kill you after all."

The two flower youkai fly closer, stare into each others' eyes, then both start to laugh hard, and just like that, they give each other a light hug, as if they were great buddies from long ago.

Yuka finishes her laugh, then says "I believe you and I will be the **_greatest_** of friends."

Ayalina giggles, wraps her arm around her new friend's neck, and as they fly toward the giant blue and white flower, she says "oh, I believe we will. Now come, come! I wish to show you how to restore flowers out of season."

"Ooh, do tell. My babies will like that," happily says the skirtless woman.

There is a loud ripping sound, and the now shirtless young-looking mother wearing a tiny white bra happily says "ahh, freedom. But yes, it's just my way of apologizing for attacking you like that."

From the small house in the distance, Kurumi, Elly, Nitori's Grandfather, and even Lester Wilson, shiver with terror at the sight of the newly born friendship of two sexy, powerful, and **vicious** flower youkai.

* * *

At late noon, Drake stealthily makes his way away from the Misty Lake toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and hopes that he can somehow get shelter from Koishi there.

He gasps when he smiles upon seeing the gloomy mansion, and most of its inhabitants standing in the garden, apparently having some sort of party.

He can see Meiling, cheering the drinking fairy maids on, Sakuya sighing and rubbing her forehead in disapproval to the fairies' left, Patchouli sitting on a lawn chair with Leon rubbing her shoulders from behind, Koakuma an Lina clapping along a song while other fairy maids dance, and Flandre and Remilia standing in front of the door, the blonde vampire giggling mischievously behind her sister's back.

"This is good. They all seem to be in a good mood," whispers the godling to himself.

"All I have to do is go in, beg like a cornered rat, maybe grant them some blessings, and I might just be saved."

Nodding to himself after settling for the begging plan, he takes a deep breath, and walks straight toward the distracted gate guard.

He approaches the scarlet-haired beauty, stops when at earshot of her, then says "hello-GAH!"

Meiling grips Drake tightly by the neck, drags him inside the garden, drops him on his face in front of the vampires, and happily says "here he is, My Lady. Just like you said."

The vampire mistress grins widely, showing her fangs in a threatening manner to the unwelcome guest, while the godling spits the dirt out of his mouth before looking up at his _gracious_ hosts.

"Well, well, look what we got here, my girls. A murderous dog crawling on the dirt, eating form the very ground we walk on. What is it you want with us, you bloodthirsty mutt?"

The vampire mistress' offensive words feel like burning needles going right through his heart, but Drake sucks up his pride, bows down until his forehead touches the ground, and says "I come seeking help, though not before begging for your forgiveness."

Even the Scarlet Devil herself gasps and freezes from the shock of the surprise, and before she recovers, the boy lifts his head and says "I have learned a lot since last we met, Miss Vampire, and am truly ashamed of my past actions! And I will prove it to you!"

He quickly crawls over to Patchouli and Leon, grabs the boy's hands and looks straight into his eyes, and after staring for exactly thirty seconds, he asks "little boy, are you sure you and your sister want to live longer?"

"How did you-?" asks the twice-surprised ice boy, then Drake looks into those scared and hesitant blue eyes, and says "I'm a god. I know a few tricks, like reading thoughts through the eyes."

"But that's not important. I know what I did, and what I did was wrong, so I want to make amends to you, your sister, these people... The point here is that I don't want to hurt you. I truly want to help you all."

Lina approaches her brother and the desperate godling, looks straight into the guest's eyes, then smiles and says "this eye-mind reading trick is pretty nifty."

"Sis?" questions Leon as he looks confused toward the Kori girl, who continues "alright, I'll buy it. But it would also be prudent to speak what you are thinking to all, so that there's nothing hidden from them."

Drake smiles, nods, then closes his eyes, and shortly after both ice echoes are surrounded by a silver lining that slowly gets absorbed by their skin.

"What the hell are you doing to them?" furiously asks Patchouli, whom readies a spell card right in front of the god's face.

The silver lining gives the twins' skin a little more color, and their eyes begin to shine a bit brighter.

After he is done with the twins, he opens his gold-glowing eyes to look straight into the magician's own, calms her down with his gaze, and says "I have extended their original lifetime. They will be able to stay in those fabricated bodies for as long as spring. But I must warn you, even with this blessing, they still can't become be permanent residents as it is."

The purple haired librarian stares, and as her anxiety rises, she begins to breathe through her mouth, and softly asks "who'd you-?"

"But there is still some hope left," says the godling, interrupting Patchouli and continuing "I can't say it's going to work a hundred percent, but it might help raise your chances if you use the snow generated from another winter spirit, and drawing the necessary magical circles on that very snow. My blessing should help then."

Drake can feel his neck getting tighter and his limbs dangling in the air, and now is looking down at Flandre, who holds him tight and lifts him with herself off the ground, while coldly asking "why are you doing this? Why are you suddenly helping us, after trying to break us all?"

The boy in brown was expecting this, though he was expecting such reaction from Remilia, and not the little sister.

Regardless, he tries not to smile at the odd development, and manages to grunt "two reasons. Need help, and to make amends, for real."

Just as the blonde releases him, before he even touches the ground, he feels a tug on his right leg, and looks back in horror at the sight of Koishi pulling him away, while the mansion girls, and Kimi the shadow dragon, who stands outside the gate with an indifferent look, stare as the satori pulls her prize to a more secluded area.

"I finally got you! Now you'll be mine, and there's **NOTHING** you can do or say to convince me otherwise, you cute, CUTE little perverted god," happily says the wickedly-smiling subconscious monster-girl.

Drake looks up at Remilia, as though begging her for some form of help.

The Mistress grins widely, and seems she will just laugh at his misfortune, then moves so fast, she looks like a blur that moves in a triangular form until it reaches the sky, where she now holds Starstriker by the collar of his shirt.

Her vile and vicious grin unnerves the godling, whom tries to smile back, though does so nervously, then the vampire ominously says "alright. I will help you. Say hello to Reimu and Rika for me."

He doesn't have to read her mind to know what exactly comes next, so instead of panicking, he clenches his eyes, teeth and entire face, and takes the powerful blunt fist from that little vampire girl to the face, which sends him flying toward the Hakurei Shrine as he screams "OWWWWW~ THANK YOUUU~"

Remilia descends from the sky with a satisfied face, and as soon as she lands, Sakuya admires her "that was a magnificent punch to the face, My Lady!"

"Thank you Sakuya. I must say, it felt incredibly satisfying for me," admits the mistress of the mansion.

"**ARRRRGH!** NOT AGAIN!", exclaims the furious Koishi while stomping hard on the ground and throwing her fists to the air.

"And what seems to be her problem, I wonder?", asks Koakuma, after ending her discrete snuggle with the twins.

Everything turns black for a second, and when the girls come to their senses, every single person standing out in the garden, save for the Kori twins, have their sexiest features covered by convenient branches and stray bushes that have somehow appeared before their completely naked bodies.

All the girls begin their cute, but loud screeches as they try to cover themselves up with their arms and legs, Flandre anxiously calling "onee-sama, what just happened?"

"My Ladies, please cover yourselves up! I-I'll get you, us, we... ARGH! Need covers! Find me some sheets or something!" cries the desperate, nosebleeding chief maid.

Kimi Hong walks over to them, disregarding the convenient censoring, yet doing an amazing job of looking elegantly sexy while covering her chest up with her arms, and her nether regions with a lightly lifted left leg, and calmly says "I don't know what you're all crying about. We're all girls anyway. Besides," looks at Meiling, then softly adds "the view... has become far more favorable now."

The gate guard turns paler than she already is as she gasps, then Patchouli screams "**PERVERTED DRAGOOOOONNN!**"

All the girls in the garden panic and scream as they run around in circles, instead of heading into the door, all while the shadow girl narrows her eyes and grins, while saying to herself in a lewd low tone "oh yeah. Just look at those girls go," all while some drool trickles down her right cheek"

* * *

That night, at the Kappa-Pa resort, the guests, mostly women, have gathered in a semi-circle at the beach, where three particular characters stand at the edge of the water of the beautiful, well-lit, artificial beach.

All the guests are holding tissues against their eyes, and sniffling inconsolably while looking at Minamitsu's determined face, Julia's hurt eyes, and Nitori's innocent confusion.

The perverted captain raises her face to Julia, and placing her right hand on her surprisingly bigger-than-average chest, she says "that's right. All this started when I saw Nitori in her swimsuit. All I wanted was to be with her, stare at her, maybe make her model other swimsuits for me, but..."

She takes a deep breath, clenches her chest a little tighter, then says "but then I experience those magical hands of yours, and I just couldn't stop thinking about you, Julia. But now I'm confused."

"How so... Mini... Minamitsu?" coldly asks the hologram woman in a suit.

Captain Murasa takes a deep breath, clenches her hands below her waist, and says "whenever I look at you, I want to stay near you, in case you want to do all those things to me again, but whenever I'm with the kappa, I... want to use all I have learned from you, and do it to her and her swimsuit."

Julia sniffles, and a digital tear rolls down her cheek, her face slowly turns red as she frowns, all while Nitori herself keeps looking back and forth with confusion between the girls and asks herself "so I've been surrounded by perverts all this time?"

The hologram woman swings her arm threateningly, snarls at the captain, and angrily says "so, you've just been using me for your perverted pleasure, **AND** to get closer to my Lady Nitori! I've been nothing more than a mere toy for your sick fantasies! What the hell do you think I am? Some machine made without feelings, designed for your pleasure? You make me SICK!"

The little kappa in between smiles and sweats as she nervously chuckles and says to herself "maybe I need to lower the intensity of Julia's feelings program."

Minamitsu turns her head away, scowling and snarling as she builds up her courage, then turns her face back toward the hologram, nods, and says "yes. That is how I saw you. After all, you said it yourself. You're a computer, unable to feel actual love, so... I guess that's why I didn't really think too much of it."

Julia storms closer to the captain and striker her on the face with her hand.

The black-haired girl rubs her cheek and slowly turns her face toward the woman in red, and says "I'm sorry. The swimsuits are just too powerful, and maybe... if you had worn that swimsuit I bought you from Makai, maybe, just maybe, I'd have thought you truly had feelings. But, you just threw it in my face, so I kinda guessed you didn't care. Fits me well though, so I'm keeping it."

The hologram girl gaps and takes two steps away, stammers as she tries to find an excuse for her prior action, her face turns tomato red, then says "th-that thing was too revealing!"

Nitori keeps looking back and forth between the girls, shrugs, then says to herself "all this because of a swimsuit? And I really liked the one the captain brought for me. Soooo sexyyyyy~"

The captain sighs, rubs her eyes, then says "look, Julia, I don't hate you for all that's happened, and after that glorious experience with your amazing hands, I will never forget you, but I need to be honest here and tell you once and for all, the one I really like... is Nitori."

The business woman in the red suit takes two more steps back, her surprise slowly turns to rage, then she raises her left hand, points to the exit, and shouts "**out! Get out!** I don't want to see you ever again, Minamitsu Murasa! Now go, and take your filthy swimsuits with you!"

The ship ghost sight, slumps, then nods and sadly says "alright. I guess I'll go back home."

The audience cries and sniffles at the developments taking place, while Nitori herself gets so sad, her twintails droop along with her frowning lips.

The ghostly captain continues her way toward the resort's exit, takes one last look back, then smiles when her face meets with the kappa's, and grins while giving her a two-fingers salute.

Nitori suddenly bursts into tears, takes three quick steps toward the captain, and cries "I-I don't know what's going on, bu-but I don't want you to stay sad, so, um, I'll go and visit you at the temple, and bring a swimsuit to show you every time! I promise!"

The audience coos and sniffle at the adorable kappa making promises, then Minamitsu smiles more brightly, waves her hand in the air and exclaims "thank you so much! You are a true sweetheart, my dear friend!"

The cute kappa smiles back, coos and giggles to herself, and after returning the arm wave, the perverted captain turns around and continues her walk.

Unknown to the adorably friendly kappa, the sweet smile from the captain becomes a sinister grin, and after a snicker, Minamitsu says to herself "just as planned. She took the bait well."

From an earphone, Julia says "just remember! You don't get the _special_ massage until I get the footage! And be careful! Lady Nitori can be dangerous if she gets mad, so don't let her catch you red-handed!"

The ship ghost scoffs, then says "relax. Don't go getting overheated now. She will never know what we're up to. Anyway, I better get going. Today is meatloaf day at the temple!"

In the middle of the weeping public, the little blue-haired kappa looks to the horizon of the artificial beach, grinning wickedly while holding her right ear, where she has a small earphone that has picked up on the whole conversation between the captain and hologram.

She contains her desire to laugh as she aims that just-as-planned face away from everyone's eyes, and as her body convulses from the suppressed laughs, she thinks "_heh-heh-heh~ I've WON! They think they got me right where they wanted me, but little do they know of my plan. Once the tengu get the shots, I'll have enough money to make my perverted comic print and shop a reality! Uh-fu-fu-fu!_"

* * *

Later that night, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu calls "Rika, it's dinner time. Please untie our guest, and make sure he gets double."

A boy outside the shrine groans loudly, then the maid angrily says "shut the hell up! You're LUCKY my lady is sharing her food with **YOU**, so you better be grateful and EAT!"

The furious maid slowly unties the sacred rope holding the godling bound to a large tree, while said boy looks miserable toward the living room.

As soon as the ropes fall, Rika speedily walks toward the shrine, while the boy says "um, th-thank you," to which she just raises her nose, and insults him with a cold and unfriendly "hmpf! Murderer."

He would love nothing more than to say something snarky to that, but quickly remembers himself murdering the shadow girl, that image of the blonde girl exploding in front of young Rika, and quickly lowers his head in shame and sighs.

The Hakurei Maiden quickly signals him to sit to the right of the table, between herself and Tenshi, and he reluctantly accepts, though would love nothing more than to get away from that place, especially with the angel-winged maid shooting incredibly dirty glares at him, and Koishi lurking about.

On another, larger table, are Marisa, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai, Mai, Yuki and Luize, and the latter is missing her sunhat, and shivers as she stammers "bu-bu-but th-they were e-everywhere. Th-they got i-i-into places. I... never knew I c-c-could fit such things in there!"

The winged ice witch pats her blonde sister on the back, while drily saying "there... there. Um, just don't think about that now. You're gonna spoil the meal."

The fire witch keeps staring at the god boy, and constantly smashes her right fist on her left hand, then points at her eyes, almost poking them by accident, then points her fingers at the boy, then points at the rose clipped on her hat, confusing the godling in the process.

Afterward, Rika begins serving the meals, starting with her Mistress Reimu, then her friend, Tenshi, her Makaian sisters next, including Alice and the little Shanghai and Hourai, then Marisa, and then she takes a plate for herself and walks over to the already cramped large table.

The god-in-training glances around, opens his mouth to speak, then the furious shrine maid spits "**serve yourself, creep!**"

He looks to Reimu, as though asking for advice, and said girl only shrugs and says "better go do as she says, or she'll get madder at you for not tasting her food at least."

He sighs in defeat and ignores the mischievous chuckle from the celestial, and as he walks toward the mess of pots, pans, plates and cups on the counters, he complains "I don't mean to be rude here, but one, I don't really need to eat, and two, Lady Shrine Maiden, it is dangerous that I remain here for too long. That subconscious satori girl might be close by."

"**Shut the hell up and eat, murderer!**" shouts the shrine maid, just before Reimu says "relax kid, she won't come this way, so just enjoy it here and forget that crazy pervert."

He sighs, knowing full well the calamity that will definitely occur if he doesn't leave, and soon, but if he does leave before trying that food, that angry angel will surely get angrier.

"_Talk about being between a rock and a hard place,_" thinks the boy, to which Suzaku replies to him "_you're getting negative again. You need to relax and take things easy._"

Drake smiles as he serves himself a bowl of rice, and telepathically says "_you should know, Miss Vermilion Bird. Before that Onkamikami sealed you, you were an emotional wreck._"

"_Let's not talk about my past, shall we? Let's talk about your present,_" replies the bird, bucking and snapping her beak from her perch, while the boy cautiously walks toward the table with Rika's meal on a tray.

He sighs, looks at the meal in front of himself, and thinks "_it's hard, Suzaku. Wherever I go in this world I get insulted, beaten, shot, threatened. It's hard not to get all negative._"

Just as he takes his first bite of the steamed vegetables with sauce, Suzaku continues "_I understand how hard it is of you, but you must endure this. After all, you caused this to yourself. I also understand you realize your mistake, and you want to make this fact clear to my master, but you cannot force her. You have to give her some time, especially after she learned what you did to her sister in Makai._"

The boy coos with delight after his mouth is graced by Rika's incredible cooking, and happily says "wow! This is amazing! What an excellent cook she is," both as a real compliment, and to hide his sudden surge of shame after learning his foolish venture to Makai was revealed, and to an inhabitant of the place; one he's already wronged harshly.

"Thanks. Now SHUT UP! I'm trying to eat," furiously shouts the maid from her table.

As the meal's 'conversation' takes place, Drake speaks with Suzaku, saying "_I am certain you know she shared a specific memory of hers with me. A painful, very dark memory from her past. Ever since I saw that, I've been wanting to say 'I'm Sorry' to that girl, but her hate towards me, her denial pushes me back, and I have to focus on keeping on my feet, which makes it harder to speak to her. But I don't blame her. I made her relive something terrible, and I wouldn't be surprised if she never forgives me for it, or accepts my godhood for that matter._"

The red bird tweets out loud and stretches her wings, making Rika asks "Suzu-chan, are you alright?", then nods to her master before addressing to the boy again.

"_Never expect her to accept your godhood. It's far too late to get that back. You lost her the moment you killed that girl she wanted to save so desperately... But she will forgive you. You just have to give it time. There's nothing else you can do._"

The godling drops the chopsticks, swallows the magnificent food in his mouth, then places his hands and locks his fingers together behind his head as he look up while in deep thought.

So far, in just a few days, he's been able to make peace with many of the people in Gensokyo he's wronged, and then remembers those that still deny him.

He understands it will take some time for them to see him in a new light, then smiles painfully when he thinks of Rika, of what he did to her, and how he'll have to repeat his patience meditations, an exercise he's neglected for a whole century, in order to withstand the many failed apology attempts that are sure to come.

While he continues to think, Reimu sighs and says "you're going to have to start from square one, Starstriker. The damage you caused here is irreparable, so you're going to have to start here like it's your first day as a god in training."

He opens his eyes to look at the shrine maiden, who blinks several times and looks around with a bit of confusion, then looks back at the boy, and says "um, sorry. I don't know why I said that."

Drake smiles at her and closes his eyes again upon realizing the message came from someone very special to him, and a single tear escapes his right eye.

When he opens his eyes again, he finds himself at the shore of the lake behind the shrine, lying on his back on a thin plaid red and white sheet, with Koishi smiling tenderly as she sits on his stomach, wearing red underwear, and nothing else.

Before he can react, the girl with hearts for eyes skillfully plucks his shirt, shoes, and pants off, leaving his red boxers on him, quickly lies on top of him, placing her hands on his shoulders, and gets closer, so that their noses touch, and seductively says "and now, you will teach me those things you were enjoying in your subconscious with that girl the other day."

The godling whimpers and tries to move, but quickly discovers the girl's strength is impressive, even for himself, and gives up with a loud sigh and opens his mouth to admit defeat.

He feels a surge of energy under his back, Koishi yelps after being blown away from him, then the energy on his back propels him to the air, where he remains airborne.

His clothes follow after him, and after he catches them, from underneath the trees, Reimu shouts "I got her. You should get dressed and head toward the underground. You'll be safer there with her older sister guarding you."

Drake looks down and manages to see Rika easily holding Koishi with an under arms lock, then smiles at the scowling maid while the shrine maiden continues "if you hurry, you'll catch Satori at the entrance of the cave, and I suggest you do it. This one is almost impossible to contain for too long."

He smiles, chuckles and loudly says "thanks Miss Reimu! And Miss Rika, I hope that one day we may see eye-to-eye, and talk about these experiences. They might help us both grow."

He can see how she just snarls at him, sighs sadly, then takes flight, while struggling to place his clothes back on, not wanting to meet Koishi's older sister in nothing but a pair of red boxers.

* * *

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Ayalina, Kyo, Luna, Kimi, Leon, Lina, and Drake were created by Willie G.R.

Rika and Suzaku were created by Snapshot 2010

DEC 22 2011

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**And there it is. This chapter that took me INCREDIBLY LONG to finish. Why? Lack of motivation, interest, and frankly, I didn't feel like I needed to write it. It's an odd feeling. Ah, but here it is, and now there's finally two more chapters, and this story is done. But before I write those two chapters, I'll write the next U.G. chapter, and after that, those two chapters, and after THAT, the rest of U.G. will be posted (non-stop I hope)**

**Aside from that, yes, that scene at the Kappa-Pa resort was MEANT to feel like a soap opera-ish kind of thing. Hope you liked it, and yes... Nitori is to be feared :D.**


	20. Chapter 20

**NOTICE: Another VERY long chapter! Contains lots of fanservice too.**

* * *

_After having escaped Koishi's love grasp several times, particularly thanks to Satori's assistance, Drake Starstriker set out to continue his quest to redeem himself to Gensokyo, and start anew as a god in training._

_He understands well enough that, once he regains his ascended status, he'll have to start from the very beginning again, but his goal is clear, and he will not back down._

_Two months have passed, and even with that subconscious satori molesting him, he finally feels he's on the right track towards his second ascension, having most of Gensokyo back on his side, though there are, and will be, those that still doubt him._

_But there is still one thing that truly binds him, and his vehicle of light, to Gensokyo, but there is nothing he can do about that particular thing._

_He can only wait until **she** regains her peace, allowing him to break free from the chain of remorse that still binds him to the material world._

* * *

Morning at the Hakurei Shrine, where Rika Onkamikami hums a sweet, but somewhat sad song while cleaning the sliding doors with a white cloth.

The trees around the shrine have a few red and golden leaves clinging to their branches, but it's only a matter of weeks before the last leaf falls, and winter embraces Gensokyo once more.

The maid is so focused on her chores, she doesn't notice Reimu standing on the other side of the veranda with her arms crossed under her chest while staring casually at the angel-winged girl.

After tiring of the waiting, she decides to approach the maid, and calls her when standing two feet behind her.

"Rika. Riikaaa!"

The maid continues her humming and cleaning as though lost in another world, so the shrine maiden takes a deep breath, takes a step away from the wing's reach, then flings her right hand and pinches that soft, and well rounded butt.

"**KYAAAAAA~**" shrieks the maid as she suddenly jumps from the surprise bun-pinch, crashes her head on the porch's roof, then crash-lands face-down, all while Hakurei watches from a safe distance, though does get tickled on the cheek by the left wing.

Rika rubs her head as she gets up, complaining about the pain, then cries "m-my lady, what was that for? *Sniffle* That was mean!"

The armpit maiden hides her elation with a dry and casual stare, while thinking "_I'm never washing this hand again,_" then notices the adorable puffed pink cheeks, the glassy, upward glance, and the sexy pose of her maid on the ground, then suddenly blows blood from her nose and catapults backward, effectively falling on the floor with a blissful smile.

The sweet maid screams in distress, springs on her feet, and immediately helps her mistress up while screaming "my lady, what happened? Are you alright?"

That red and white with bloodied lips and chin flips her thumb up as she chuckles lightly, making Rika sigh with relief and ask "my lady, you are acting so playful today. May I ask what you need me for?"

"RIGHT!"

The complete change of mood and status of her mistress to casual is so impressive, Rika finds herself applauding the maiden, then said girl says "Rika, sweetie, I want you to leave the shrine today. I want you go around Gensokyo, and observe others; see how things are over your home."

The angelic maid's face shows a smile, though the right side twitches as she considers leaving her lady alone all day.

Before she complains, the clever Hakurei grins and say "that. is. an. **o-r-d-e-r.**"

"Aww! I couldn't even try it this time," complains the maid while looking toward the stairs of the shrine.

Reimu smiles wider when she hears that familiar sigh of defeat, then the beautiful maid says "as you wish, my lady. But just to be safe, I finished a summoning rune yesterday. It took me a whole day to make, but with it, you can call for me and I'll be back in an instant, from wherever I am!"

The armpit girl smiles, a bead of sweat rolls down the left side of her head, scoffs, and softly says "dammit, don't take the fun out of teasing you."

"What was that, my lady?"

"N-nothing, heheh."

The winged maid sighs again, bows to her lady, and disappointedly says "alright my lady, I'm guessing you want me to leave immediately, so I'll be gong now."

Reimu wraps her arm around Rika's neck, pulls her closer and presses her head against her chest, and while the maid is lost in that motherly embrace, the shrine maiden softly says "watch everything carefully out there. Try to see past your eyes, and return to me anew."

The angel-winged girl opens her eyes wide with surprise and keeps them that way while her mistress gently pushes her away.

Giggling after seeing her maid so surprised, the red and white maiden taps Rika's forehead with her finger to snap her back to her senses, then playfully says "now get going. A day can only last so long."

The dumbstruck maid can only nod, then quickly bows again before turning around, and heads toward the stairs.

When she is sure Reimu is no longer watching, she stops in front of the gates, and tweets once.

Suzaku swoops from the high skies, lands in front of Rika, bows her head, and asks "_what do you need, Rika-sama?_"

Without saying a single word to her shikigami, the sexy maid places her hands on the vermilion bird, makes her glow bright, and when said bird opens her eyes, she gasps when she realizes she's in her human form.

Her eyes remain lavender white, as always, her short, red hair still has that cute white strip in the middle, but instead of her usual red dress with the white frilled skirt and neck adornments, she's wearing a cute red maid's dress with a short skirt that covers her gorgeous thighs, and an oversized maid headdress.

She looks up at her master with questionable eyes, but before she can ask, Rika smiles at her and says "you look so cute. Suzu-chan, I want you to take care of lady Reimu while I'm out, alright. Can you do that for me?"

The humanoid girl with a small chest nods energetically, and says "as you wish, Rika-sama. I'll take good care of mom for you."

The sexy angelic maid giggles and rubs the girl's head, as though she was a child, says to herself "so cute," then says to Suzaku "thank you very much. I'll be going now, I guess."

She speeds her way over to the long stairs, then stops before reaching the first, turns around, and calls "don't forget! If any of you need my help, call for me, and that rune will summon me back real quick!"

* * *

Just as she readies herself to leave the shrine, Reimu appears in front of her with her gohei held tight, who then reaches for Rika, making her wince, grabs her by the back of her shirt, then takes her maid along with herself away from the red gates.

"My lady, what's the matter now?" desperately asks the angelic girl, then anxiously adds "I was about to activate Quicksilver, you know!"

The shrine maiden's reply is taking a few talisman from under her sleeves, and pointing at the ball of light growing right in front of the stairs, which makes the maid react, and prepare for battle.

The human Suzaku gets in the way while shouting "**wait, wait,**" while flapping her arms in the air, then exclaims "she's a goddess! She won't harm you!"

The red and white lowers her defense, and looking strangely at Suzaku, she asks "Suzu-chan, what happened to you? Hey, wait, what do you mean a goddess?"

Rika gasps long while flapping her wings, and while admiring the light in awe, she exclaims "wait a moment. That has to be... Miss Mina?"

The light before them slowly gets closer as it grows larger and larger, until it is the size of a young human, and quickly takes the shape of a woman as tall as Drake, which isn't really that tall.

She has long blonde hair that reaches to her waist, blue eyes that shimmer like a pair of stars, wears a light-blue dress that shows off her gorgeous womanly figure and ample chest and hips, a lilac sash hovering above her head and resting on her shoulders, and a large white ribbon on her head that appears to look out of place, considering her current attire.

They immediately ignore that clashing accessory when they lay their eyes on those fair-smiling, pink lips, and get lost in a warm and fuzzy sensation, to which the humanized vermilion bird grins at from the sides.

Mina sighs, raises her right hand, then says "finally, I managed to get in here. Hello Miss Rika and Miss Reimu. My, you're as beautiful as I pictured you both. Miss Suzaku has told us much about you."

Though the Hakurei Maiden smiles, her eyes seem to glow with a little intensity as she stares at the maid in red, and says "is that so~?"

"Don't steal my lines, bitch," declares Rumia before she falls on, and gnaws on the back of Reimu's head, then gets knocked out by a tap from the assassin maiden's gohei, then the human-bird maid stammers a bit, and runs away while exclaims "I-I'll go clean the kitchen now!"

The goddess covers her mouth as she giggles, then lowers her hand before saying "don't be angry. she only celebrates you both so much. Ah, but Miss Rika, I'm afraid I'm not here to dispense pleasantries. There is something I must ask of you, but before I do, please listen to a story. Miss Reimu, please listen to this as well."

The maid in question looks at her mistress, then back at the fair woman, then nods, and slowly sits on the ground next to the shrine maiden, whom has unconsciously done the same.

Mina closes her eyes, takes a soft and deep breath, then begins her story: "My Drake wasn't always like that. He never used to take sides, and always fought for what he believed was the right thing, which was saving all the people, regardless of their ways of thinking, beliefs, and so on."

"Wait a minute," suspiciously interrupts Reimu.

"How can we understand you? I thought you two were form the west!"

The goddess giggles again, then admits "as a goddess, language barriers don't affect me as much as my sweetheart, though I'll admit, I spent a lot of my time outside your barrier, so I picked up on a few extra things from your language. Ah, but allow me to continue, please."

After a light nod from both girls, the blonde continues "so, anyway, one day we all fought one of Drake's relatives. A vicious monster who wanted to wipe the world clean to restart it as his own, and it was then that my love ascended. What a **sight** that was."

"He was allowed to stay with us for a while, until we all ascended with him, though our friends decided to remain at a level of those you call 'celestials', while I followed Drake to godhood. That's when his mental decline started."

Rika raises an eyebrow, but keeps her thoughts to herself, allowing Mina to continue.

Her face shows great sadness, and a light sob escapes the goddess as she says "they didn't give us the choice. They forcefully separated us, told us we'd be going to many different worlds, where we would meet new spirits, while at the same time, gain balance and faith. At first, I lost my mind just like my love, but I managed to compose myself, and eventually gained godhood."

"My darling, on the other hand, found himself attacked by both light and darkness, and wanted to get out, but when he learned I had already ascended, he decided to pick sides. I tried going to him, but I was not allowed, and so, his decline tainted him, and thus was brought here."

Before either Reimu or Rika, whose faces show their anger, speak up, Mina gestures them to hold on, and says "I understand you are upset for all the things he did here, but he has changed again. He is back to whom he was, that man I loved, and he should be out of your necks, but something is keeping him latched to this world."

She looks at the angelic maid, coos, and says "Rika, sweet angel, as long as you keep hating him with such intensity, he will never leave you alone. He'll always be there until you learn your lesson and let him go."

"**He killed innocents, including someone who needed of help, not a sword through her chest!**", furiously declares the maid after springing on her feet.

She walks closer to the serene goddess, and angrily says "he is a **monster**, and he deserves to be punished for all he has done! So many lives needlessly lost, just because they had different beliefs!"

Mina gently holds Rika's soft cheeks, looks at the features forming around her face, her rage ruining what should be an angelic sight, smiles lightly, and softly says "that anger ruins the angel-like face you have. Don't let it get a hold you, for that is who you are NOT."

She releases the surprised winged girl's face, takes a step back, and says "he has already been punished enough. Even now, he is being punished. Though he has found himself in this world, and he is happy once more, he longs to move on, so that one day he and I may be together again."

The shrine maid quickly looks away, trying to hide the evident thoughts going through her mind, how she hates to be a burden on someone else, even though he, or she deserves it, but then realizes Reimu saw all of that, and quickly turns her face away to the other side.

Mina smiles, though seems pained when she does, and says "you see. That is enough. He's paid for all he's done. This is why I have a message for him, but it has to be **you** who delivers it. A divine request. Can you do that, Rika Onkamikami, of the noble Onkamikami clan?"

The winged girl gasps as lightly as she can, so as not to reveal her surprise, then slowly turns to face the goddess directly, her wings and neck stretch, a light links the two girls' heads, and it all stops as quickly as it began.

The blonde goddess giggles, bows, and says "please, deliver my message to him. And know that both he and I are very sorry for what has happened, and that he wishes to make amends for real."

She looks at Reimu afterward, smiles, and says "and so, for now, farewell Rika Onkamikami and Reimu Hakurei. And Miss Maiden, do not despair, for you are not truly alone. He'll be coming, but he might need some assistance."

The goddess disappears from the shrine, leaving a few pastel-yellow sparks that slowly flutter to the floor and plop like droplets, cleaning the entire area from all the dust and leaves.

Before Reimu stands up, Rika grows four more wings, says "I'll be going now, my lady. Please call me if you need me," then disappears in the blink of an eye, leaving the Hakurei Maiden wondering what that message for Drake was.

Unknown to the girls, Mina finds herself trapped by her sexy waist on Gensokyo's border, at the other side of the Hakurei Shrine on the outside world.

She grunts as she struggles to push her curvy self free from that magical barrier, stops and droops for a moment, then howls cutely and cries "hauuu~ not again. This is so embarrassing. *Sigh* I miss my Drakey."

* * *

A minute later, Rika arrives at the Human Village's central park, where the Dragon God's Statue's eyes glow white, reassuring the sunny and clear skies will remain so.

The little park is currently empty, save for a young couple sitting on a bench to the right of the statue, and a few children walking by as they head to Keine's school.

The maid sighs; this is perfect for her.

She needs somewhere calm to think, and the village currently appears to be the perfect place for that, and so she walks to a nearby bench away from the statue to its left, where she has an excellent view of the path to the market, which is much more populated at the moment.

The angelic maid watches on, and takes particular interest in those that are in couples or groups, while thinking "_so, that murderous monster is bound to the wonderful paradise, just because little 'ol me can't let him go. I don't care about him, and yet, here I am, thinking about him again. I hate being the burden that's keeping him, but at the same time, I'm glad. He deserves that. Ugh! What kind of messed up way of thinking is that?_"

She groans, holds her head, and exclaims "argh! What a mess!"

"Heh, I'll say. Hey, do you remember I used to think you were this murderous monster too?"

Rika gasps. She recognizes that voice.

She looks to the space to her right and exclaims "KALI?", but there is nothing there, save for a lonely red leaf flying with the wind.

The maid sighs, her heart starts to feel like lead, then the thought strikes her hard, and she thinks "_she saw me the same way I see that murderer. Yes, now I understand why she was so afraid of me._"

"But why?", asks the maid, as tears begin to flow anew, tears she hadn't had for a whole month suddenly return, and now, once more, her anger rises as she asks herself "she was opening up to me. I was going to take care of her! My sword glowed blue, so why? WHY? Why was she taken away, with **my** blood, and that, grr... sword?"

Her rages steadily grows inside her heart, her body shakes, reacting to that rage and hatred she's feeling, then a group of children, three girls and a boy, run past in front of her, giggling as they play a silly little game of tag on their way to the school.

Seeing them play like that brings Rika the peace she needs to cancel that rage she felt, and after a few seconds, her long sigh rids her of all residual anger within herself.

She covers her face with her hands as she breathes in the cool and soothing air she needs, then feels something disturbing the bench, but doesn't look, thinking it's just another trick from her mind.

From her right, another familiar voice worriedly asks "Rika-sis, what's wrong? Did someone hurt you?"

Hearing Hatate's voice sends a jolt to Rika's brain, recalibrating it so that she can act as casually as she can, though fails when she suddenly looks to her right and nervously asks "M-Miss Hat-Hatate! Wah-whe, um, h-how are you?"

The tengu stares at the maid with concern, tilts her neck slightly to the left with a confused look, then says "I'm alright, but sis, you don't look so good. what happened? Maybe I can help you."

The maid remains looking nervous and silent, so the twin-tailed tengu aims her sad frown toward the road, and sadly says "I see. You were thinking about her again. Heh, if that Tenshi girl finds out, she's going to make you meditate twice as hard."

The winged maid sighs, frowns sadly, then slowly turns her head to stare at the ground under her feet.

Hatate chuckles, then asks "you remember how much time she sacrificed for you? She won't like it. But I won't tell."

She looks at the distracted maid, and softly asks "so what are you doing here, Rika-sis?"

Rika gives up, sighs loudly, then says "my lady asked me to travel around Gensokyo, though I didn't fully understand why. Now, after having met Mina, I think I know... but-"

"Mina? Isn't that the name of that girl the god-boy thing keeps, like, obsessing about?", hurriedly asks the tengu with a glint on her reporter eyes.

The sweet maid stares at those eyes for a few seconds, begins to giggle, progresses to laughing, then the tengu girl blushes with embarrassment, though smiles as she says "well, th-that's more like it."

After her laughing fit ends, Rika flicks a happy little tear from underneath her left eye, then looks at Hatate, chuckles a little more, then says "thanks, I needed that. And yes, it's that very same Mina."

Before the crow girl can ask, the maid continues "she asked me to give him a very important message... and said I needed to let my hatred for him go. Um, so I guess that, right now, I'm wondering where to start looking for him."

The tengu girl jumps off the bench as she happily says "HA! I can help you there, sis! I so happen to have the pictures of Drake's most visited spots! You are sure to bump into him if you visit those places!"

She quickly bends down with her camera phone in front of her, then browses through the many pictures while saying "there's Myouren, and Eientei, he's visited the Moriya Shrine, and then there's this place, ooh, and he's gone there too. Ahh, but last time he was seen over here. He helped that shadow youkai catch herself a mate too."

"Eh? **Really?**", asks the surprised maid, to which the tengu chuckles nervously at, then shrugs and says "of course, she killed that mate afterward, so it was a disaster."

While the maid covers her gasping mouth with her hands, that crazy bird casually mouths "he was a youkai, so he's alive, you know."

Rika sighs with relief after hearing that, then suddenly jumps on Hatate, traps her in a wonderfully warm embrace, presses her womanly chest against the girl, and rubs her head while saying "thank you so much Hatate-chan!"

The well-endowed maid releases that bird girl, who tries to keep on her feet, though her excessive, drunken-like elation seems to prevent her from keeping steady, and says "I'm sorry, but I have to go. Time only lasts so long. Take care."

With that, those four wings spread out of her back, and she disappears from the village, leaving that crow tengu so elated, she raises and waves her hand a minute after the maid has left, and tries to say goodbye, but all she manages to say is complete gibberish.

* * *

It takes Rika less than a minute to reach Eientei by air, lands gracefully in the front yard, and immediately calls "hello. Miss Tewi, Miss Reisen! Miss Kaguya, Miss Eirin... anyone?"

The girl sighs as she looks around the seemingly empty yard, the surprisingly silent clinic, the open mansion, and says to herself "not even Miss Toyohime, or Miss Yorihime. Maybe they all went out."

The maid's eyes become two white disks with spiraling black borders, her mouth a large red square, and she starts to sweat while shivering, when her eyes are smacked with the presence of two of Eientei's most bored inhabitants.

Kaguya is running around, wearing a varied pink flowers bikini top and a totally revealing grass skirt, showing off her curvy assets and matching bikini bottom, a pair of sandals, a headband made of dried twigs, and has a pair of lit candles on either side of said headband.

Tewi runs with all her might, away from the Lunatic Princess, wearing a half-green, half-red jester's hat with bells on the tips, Eirin's black kimono's top, a carrot-print panty, and a blue sandal on her left foot.

"I don't **CARE **how bored I am! I'm NOT dancing on one foot while gurgling your hymn," shouts the furious rabbit youkai.

"Oh, so you'll just make the volcano gods mad! SHAME ON YOU! ...Tch, just do it! I promise I won't take photos," shouts the princess as she makes a reach for Tewi's tail.

Rika can only choke out a few sounds from her throat while the shock remains fresh on her, and only shivers as she watches from what she hopes is a safe distance.

The rabbit and Lunarian are currently struggling on the ground, then stop when they notice the angelic maid to their rights.

They stare silently at the guest, crescent red smiles take their faces, glints escape their eyes, then both simultaneously speak like zombies when saying "big... boooooooooooobs."

The maid screeches and runs away from her pursuers, while covering her chest with her arms and crying "what is this? Leave me alone! WAAAAHHH!"

Kaguya reaches for the maid's wings while saying "but your boobs are perfect to play the sexy damsel in distress!"

Tewi jumps for, and grabs the sexy angel girl by the hips, while saying "come on, just play with us for a few hours! We're bored!"

They all stop running for a moment, then the sweet maid asks "oh, so it's just a game?"

The Moon Princess presents the guest with a very small, white, micro-bikini on a hanger, and says "you get to wear this while hanging with your arms spread open on top of a lava pit. Perfect for sexy sweat pictures!"

Rika's eyes become completely white as she scowls, her teeth become jagged inside her box-shaped mouth, then she raises both hands and shouts "NEVER! I'll NEVER SUCCUMB!"

Almost an hour later, the entire front yard of Eientei looks like a messy battlefield, filled with countless pitfalls, burn marks, and Kaguya's destroyed headband.

The angelic maid, rabbit youkai, and Moon Princess are full of burn marks, the mansion inhabitant's butts are a little swollen, red and steaming, and as if by some miracle, Kaguya and Tewi are still dressed in those outfits while, the well-endowed angel's dress is a tattered mess with holes all over.

Rika pants anxiously hard as she glares at the two girls in a steaming pile, fans her steaming spank-hand, then exclaims "there, I won! Stop trying to make me wear that thing and tell me where is everyone else?"

Though hurt and burned, the black-haired princess lifts herself up with ease and smiles, manages to indecently cross her legs, leaving her nether region exposed, and says "the others are out. They were going to the village's market to try and sell some medicines and show the people some healing stuff."

The Earth Rabbit hops to her feet, and smiling deceivingly sweetly, she asks "actually, I want to know. Why are **you** here, miss violent guest? Did you come to pick a fight with our princess, then leave?"

The rabbit's eyes become ominous as she coldly says "because if that's the case, I guarantee me and my squadron won't allow it."

Unimpressed by the lack of a squadron, the maid casually asks "and where would that squadron be?"

Tewi face palms hard and rolls her hand over her face, groans, then says "right, they're still playing King Kong."

Rika suddenly gasps and blushes pink with embarrassment, bows, then says "I'm sorry, I almost forgot. The reason I came here is because I was told that... godling... visits this place."

The mansion's inhabitant's faces become a bit more serious, though don't stop smiling at the guest, then Kaguya gets on her feet, gestures for the guest to sit on the stairs, and after all three girls sit, the rabbit and princess smile playfully again.

The black-haired Lunarian then says "yes, he comes often, checks up on us, and is constantly blessing our home."

"He's even helped save a few rabbits from other hungry youkai several times," adds the rabbit girl, then ponders and adds "hmm, he says he doesn't mind me not forgiving him, but insist he must do reparations for what he did to my girls."

"And you believe him?", asks Rika with surprise in her tone, unable to understand the girls' nonchalance toward that murderer.

Kaguya nods, then says "he really has repented for his actions and is making an effort to fix his mistakes."

"Truth is..." begins the rabbit girl, "when he showed me how Zhinka and Kara were doing... I dunno, kinda stopped being so mad at him. I can't really forgive him... but I'm not really mad at him anymore. Kinda complicated."

The angelic maid looks away and growls inwardly, then sighs and says "you are amazing. He killed two loved ones and you're no longer mad at him. I can't stop being angry at him for killing Kali the way he did."

From where she's sitting, the maid can see the beautiful, flower-covered tombstones for Tewi's friends, then feels her rage rising when she thinks of the shadow girl, and how her body disappeared, making it impossible to have a proper burial.

Before she gets consumed by anger, Kaguya places her hand on Rika's shoulder, then proudly says "that's because we let all that bad stuff go. We aren't about to let silly negative feelings consume us, right!"

Tewi chuckles sinisterly and says "I do like to hold a grudge sometimes, but it's important to let it go eventually. It'll help you live longer. Besides, when you get to know the real him, Drake's not such a bad guy. He's stupid, but that's about it."

Rika hums while thinking, trying to rearrange her thoughts a bit, thinking that's what she may need to let go of that evil boy, then the Moon Princess appears standing in front of the stairs with the micro bikini on hand, and asks "are you sure you don't want to wear this?"

The sexy maid stammers in a sudden panic, immediately takes off to the sky, and shouts back "keep that indecent thing AWAY from me!"

The princess sighs as she watches the angel girl fly away, then says "we failed in the end."

The rabbit girl sighs, then says "great, and after all that. I guess we'll have to return half of Reimu's money."

* * *

The angelic maid has landed in front of Alice's house, away from the reach of those two perverts, and after a sigh of relief, she says to herself "those two were acting so different. Jeez, and I think I was making progress too."

"**IT'S RIKAAAAAA**," exclaim the two little blondes that immediately cling to, and embrace the maid's breasts.

Rika's face turns deep red as she stammers for a second, then exclaims "Shanghai, Hourai! Er, p-please let go. Ugh, what is it about my chest today?"

The blue dressed girl coos happily as she rubs her face on the maid's pearls, and says "but they're so warm, and soft, and squishy~"

The maid gasps while the red-dressed girl pushes her face and squeezes tighter, and sounding muffled, says "mmm~, it's so good~ I could sleep here!"

"Shanghai, Hourai," calls Alice from the door. "Don't be so rude!"

The two little girls bounce away from their favorite maid, and giggle as they fly over to their mother, then Hourai says "so bouncy! I want to sleep there, pleeeeaaase!"

The puppeteer chuckles nervously and says "sorry about that, sis," while Rika rubs her chest and still blushes hard.

The angel-winged girl sighs, stops rubbing herself, and as her face slowly recovers its natural color, she says "it's alright. Um, sis, can I ask you a few things... about that Dr... that god-boy?"

The three blondes can feels the odd awkwardness of that question, so the magician nods and says "come on in. I'll make us some tea," thinking they'll have a more comfortable time talking inside.

Just a few minutes later, Rika and Alice have prepared tea and strawberry cake, which are almost all gone, thanks to two tiny sweet-toothed twins, whom happily sit on the maid's thighs with icing-covered mouths, and satisfied bellies.

The maid and magician begin to enjoy their own serving of tea and cake, when the blonde asks "so, what's this all about? I doubt you have a crush on him, because last I saw, you tried to feed him one of Genjii's-"

"That was then. Please, sis, I'm still very ashamed of my actions that day," interrupts the sexy maid, flapping her wings involuntarily and getting blissful smiles from the two little girls on her lap.

Somehow ignoring the wing-flap, Alice continues "I see. From that look in your eyes I can tell, this is different, but I needed to be sure."

Rika smiles lightly, chuckles once, then asks "so what can you tell me about him?"

The puppeteer sighs, then bluntly says "he's just a stupid showoff who needs to keep reminding all that he's a god. But... he's got a good heart, sis. He just hides it out of fear, mostly."

Shanghai jumps on her feet while still on the maid's soft thigh, and exclaims "well I think he just needs a good woman to spank him and straighten him up! Can you give him guidance like that Rika-chan?"

Just the mere thought of her spanking that godling and trying to coax him sends such chills down her spine, her face looks ominous as a result, scaring the little girl and making her cry straight to her mama's arms.

The oblivious Hourai jumps on her feet while on the maid's warm thigh, then says "well, I think I want that last piece of cake!"

The entire room becomes pitch black, the girls scream, plates clink, and the light comes back on, revealing Rika and Hourai looking confused, and Alice and Shanghai face palming and sighing.

"What just happened?" anxiously asks the maid.

The blonde magician casually points to the door, where Rumia and Agava hold the last piece of cake, and a tray of cookies, and the shadow youkai declares "ha-HA~ Your sweets are belong to us!"

The maid stands up, scowls at the thieves, points at them, and says "ladies, it's bad enough that you're stealing from others, so at least think before you speak! Your improper manner of speech is insulting to your victims!"

Agava blows her tongue at the girl, turns around, smacks her round and jiggling butt, and says "like I care!"

Rika stares at the taunting backside, watches how it jiggles in that clingy, purple ninja tights, and blushes as she chortles when she thinks of Tenshi doing just that, while playfully saying "jiggle-jiggle."

The thieves quickly run away, and the shadow taunts "later, losers!", to which Rumia adds "was she being perverted?

The two dark youkai fly as though their lives depended on it, blink when a flare from the sun blinds them, but continue to fly forward, in case someone is following them.

They land in the center of the of a dark clearing, which is still slightly covered from the sky by the many red leafed trees surrounding the area, then Rumia excitedly says "we got it, we got it! Let's eat!"

Agava stares at the little blonde, raises an eyebrow, then asks "are you sure you're still a carnivore?"

The darkness youkai's answer is simple; she takes a bite out of the shadow youkai's left forearm, gulps, and says "still bland! You need salt!"

"Sorry I asked," says the bitten girl, wincing in pain, though ignoring the blood as she reaches her pockets for their looted treats and sweets.

A question mark appears above her head when she fails to find the expected treats, then asks "what the heck? Hey, didn't we take that piece of cake and those cookies?"

A delectably sweet scent quickly reaches the thieves' nostrils, then they quickly turn to face Rika to their lefts, who says "sometimes, asking nicely will get you more than stealing."

Agava chuckles, having realized that flare was that very girl standing in front of her, and replies "but stealing is so much more fun."

The tattered-clothed maid can only chuckle back as she shakes her head, then steps aside to reveal a little stove made with rocks, dried leaves, and bamboo shoots as the temporary grill, a freshly baked cake and batch of cookies, and says "well, you're just hungry, so I'll let it slide. Be more prudent next time though."

The sexy shadow girl yelps with surprise when she sees Rumia is already eating a large leg of something, then looks at the angelic maid and asks "alright, what do you want?"

Rika stares back with a confused look, then the dark girl continues "nobody's this nice! You want something, so out with it."

"Oh yes, so very nice. I like her already," says the little darkness youkai as she enjoys her meat, making Rika's sword turn colorful and its jewel glow blue.

The angelic maid places her curved index finger on her lips as she giggles, then slowly walks over to the formerly-evil shadow, and says "you are Agava, correct? I've been wanting to see you again for some time now."

The black-haired girl can't move, even though she wants to, and quickly realizes that she's slightly shorter than the angel girl, but is proud of herself for having an ampler chest.

She takes this pride to compose herself before the maid, blushes a little, and says "um, y-yeah? What do you need me for? I've done nothing."

Rika gets closer, explores the girl's face, giggles happily, then says "you remind me so much of her," and before the dumbstruck shadow youkai can speak again, the maid places her hand on the girl's hair and scratches her head, making her lose her will to fight back, and just stands there, blushing while accepting the friendly scratch.

When the maid stops, she wants to ask her to go on, but her pride prevents her from doing so, and just looks away to hide her blushing face.

The sexy angel takes flight as she waves goodbye, and says "please, enjoy the food, and come visit me at the Hakurei Shrine, if it's not too much to ask. I wish to get to know you better. The both of you."

Rumia waves back happily with both hands while still holding her meat with her mouth, and Agava waves back with her slightly-raised hand's fingers, and mumbles "um, yeah. Thanks."

The maid takes off to her next destination, humming happily while her sword glows blue once more.

* * *

Later, at the Myouren Temple, the people there, particularly the youkai, are all excitedly speaking almost all at once in a large semi-circle that keeps following someone into the temple itself.

In the center of this commotion is Rika, smiling nervously and placing her hands in defensively in front of herself, while saying "it's alright, really. I'm fine on my own. I just need to speak with Byakuren. N-no, please, I don't need a wing rub, but thanks anyway."

This continues on and on, until thunder strikes and scares the people, then Ichirin loudly shouts "what is going on here, you guys? Did Nue place a seed on the yamabiko again?"

The group quickly disbands, leaving the angelic maid standing on her own.

She looks up the stairs to Unzan and Ichirin, whom smile as they wave back at that sweet angelic maid, who says "thanks, you guys. Is Lady Byakuren here? I need to talk to her."

The blue-haired girl gestures her hand upward and says "she's in the meditation room with the others. Come, she's been expecting you."

The well-endowed maid bows while saying "oh, please, don't mind me. If she's busy, I'll come ba-aah, what? Expecting me?"

Ichirin and Unzan gesture their hands again so Rika follows them up, then the girl says "come on, or I'll tell her you were too rude to accept our invitation."

Rika stammers nervously, then quickly and anxiously says "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll be there immediately!"

Inside the temple, Kogasa stops praying on the bench the second she feels the lovely maid's presence, then waves from where she sits and calls Rika-onee-chan, you came to visit!"

"And you still have to recite twenty more lines, little Miss Rainy Roof, so keep it planted," scolds the nun, making the karakasa complain and turn around to reluctantly resume her praying.

The maid waves at the cute umbrella girl and twists her body as she moves on, and waits for the hidden wave back, and when she turns around, she feels the air leaving her lungs as her feet leave the floor, and a woman happily exclaims "Rika! I'm so glad you came! I was hoping you'd come here when Nazrin said she saw you running around at the village!"

The cute and sexy maid chuckles nervously and out of breath, then mouths "but I wasn't running," and as soon as Byakuren sets her on the ground again, she takes a deep breath, and says "Lady Byakuren, good morning! Um, I'm sorry if I'm being too forward, but I was wondering if I could speak to you about-"

The magician places a finger on the maid's lips to quiet her down, and softly says "I've been wanting to speak to you about that for a while, and finally, here you are. Come, let's go to the dining room."

Shou and Nazrin are enjoying a snack of cookies in the private dining room, while at the right corner of said room, Nue rubs her hands together mischievously while flying around a depressive black spot.

The moment the magician, nun, cloud, and their guest enter the room, the girls inside, and the black spot wave as they greet the maid, who bows and says "forgive my intrusion."

Byakuren grabs Rika by the hand and says "enough pleasantries," and pulls her to one side of the table, sits on the other side, then stares at those sky-blue eyes while smiling.

The uncomfortable angel maid starts to blush, but to quickly hide her discomfort, she asks "s-so? Did you want to talk to me about Drake? B-because I did come to ask, um, about that murderous buffoon."

The gradient-haired woman grabs hold of that maid's right hand, forcing her to look straight into her eyes after a quick complaint, and says "let go of that, Rika. You are better than this, you know that."

She lets go of the maid's hand, and with a strict and motherly look, she continues "Rika, sweetie, you'll never be able to recover unless you let that rage and guilt go away. It was not his fault that shadow died... though he was the cause, we cannot deny that, and it was **not **your fault either."

"What she did was a very brave and noble thing. She sacrificed herself for you, so that you would go on with your wonderful life here in Gensokyo. What do you think she would say if she saw you acting as you are after that? Hating that boy, and moping around without moving forward."

The winged girl gulps and frowns sadly, but keeps looking at the magician, who starts to gently rub her hand, making herself feel like a mother comforting her child, but shakes the thought and continues "please, stop dwelling in such a negative memory, be grateful for that gift given to you by one who once was an evil and dark shadow, and move on with your own life."

Byakuren sighs, pats the stunned Rika on the head, and says "I'm sorry I had to be so blunt, but you are so blinded with anger, and I would hate to see you become a hateful person. After all, you are Rika Onkamikami, and you are the sweetest girl I have ever met."

The sexy angelic girl finally reacts, though her thoughts scramble all over her mind and is unable to piece together a coherent fact, until she start looking around at takes notice of Nue's mischievous, jagged-toothed grin aimed at the black spot on the ground she keeps flying around of.

She takes notice of Murasa's hat inside that dark, depressive blob, gasps, then asks "what's wrong with Murasa-chan? Is she alright?"

Byakuren claps her hands softly as she coos, then says "that's the sweetheart I know," then hands the maid a copy of a magazine titled "Bunbunmaru Special Swimsuits Issue", and gazes upon pictures and pictures of the captain in tight, revealing, barely-there, cute, and enhancing swimsuits.

Not just that, but she was caught in several embarrassing poses, the worst being tied up to a wooden cross next to Julia, Nitori's holographic computer, who was obviously forced to wear a skin-tight sling-bikini over her gorgeously enhanced body.

Rika's shock is so strong, her entire body becomes stone, and as the magazine falls from her hands, the magician monk sighs and says "she tired making that friendly little kappa wear really embarrassing swimsuits and take photos, but Miss Nitori was wise to hers and that computer-woman's plot."

"Before she knew it, Murasa and Miss Julia were forced to wear those swimsuits intended for the kappa, and... well, you can see the results for yourself."

The maid somehow, and with great effort, moves her neck toward Minamitsu's direction, and still stoned, she manages to say "poor girl. But that's what she get for plotting misdeeds."

Said angel shakes the stoning off, sending a chip straight on to the nue's head, knocking her out in a flash, then speaks loud enough for the captain to hear.

"But wait a minute. Why can't she just buy her own swimsuits and try them herself, then takes pictures as well. I mean, what better way to counter a blow like that than to take it head-on and enjoy the ride, right?"

Captain Murasa gasps out loud, jumps to her feet, breaking off the depressing black and surrounding herself with light, then screams with life and runs straight to Rika, kneels and hugs her knees while saying "thank you, thank you, thank you! That is a GREAT IDEA!"

She stands up and pumps a fist in the air, then exclaims "I'll get my own swimsuits, **LURE** Nitori into a trap, get her naked and **force** her to wear that very swimsuit," starts to drool profusely, "then take **ALL** the pictures I want of that **EMBARRASSED** face, that **GLORIOUS** blush, and those delectable features!"

Minamitsu squeals with glee, jumps while clenching her fists over her head, then zips away the second her feet touch the ground, rapidly saying "when I show those to Julia, she's going to give me a reward for sure! Thank you Rika~"

Ichirin chuckles nervously, and asks "what... exactly just happened?"

Unzan and Rika stare seriously at each other, it appears they are about to start attacking one another, then the cloud's eyes glint as he raises a thumb up at the girl, who smiles sweetly and confidently while returning the gesture.

Shou gulps her cookie while staring at the two thumb-uppers, then comments "so it was a success? Seriously?"

Nazrin looks around with a very flat gaze and neutral lips, and says "more like a '_fission mailed_', if you ask me. At least two girls just recovered in a flash, just like that..."

Rika giggles, even though her face suggests embarrassment as she does, and says "wait. On retrospect, I feel like something went wrong along the way. **KYAAAAHH!**"

The winged girl's cute screech and adorable, rapid wing flap causes Ichirin and Nazrin to bleed through their noses, Shou, Byakuren and Unzan to blush, Nue to spring from the ground, angrily asking "wha, wah? Who's screaming even though it's not my fault?", and Kogasa to screech as she stops in front of the door and shouts "**who made my Rika-sis scream?**"

The well endowed girl has a thin white stripe with small black numbers going around her breasts, and holding said strap is Orange, who loudly declares "** centimeters!"

To her right, Kyouko whistles with admiration, and says "nice. Very nice. She'll make someone very happy."

The poor maid's face turns beet red as she holds and covers her chest with her arms, and cries in a high-pitched tone "What's with my chest today? And that's a violation of my privacy, you meanies!"

The gradient-haired woman raises her finger in a scolding gesture, and says "hey, leave Rika alone before I-**AIIIIIEEEEEEE!**"

Now it's Byakuren who has the measuring tape around her breasts, then the yamabiko happily declares "** centimeters! Wow, another good catch! Seriously, I'm jealous of these two!"

Shou screeches, while the magician monk blushes and covers her chest just like Rika, and exclaims "girls, what is the meaning of this? I have a good mind to make you clean Murasa's toilet for a month for this!"

Ichirin yelps, Orange exclaims "wow! ** centimeters! Seriously, Shou, you need to work on that," then looks at Unzan and says "you lucky boy."

Kyouko smiles as she gazes over to Byakuren, and happily says "oh, we're conducting a very important experiment!"

Nazrin yelps and roars, and after the inevitable explosions, and the declarations of size, the yamabiko happily continues "we're measuring breasts to see if the size of a woman's figure affect her preferences."

"LET ME GO," screams Nue, then the orange girl disappointedly shouts "** centimeters. So disappointing," to which the undefined one shouts back "at least I have curvy hips, you cutting board!"

Ignoring the girl's comment, the short shorts girl casually says "so far, it's still inconclusive, but I think we're getting somewhere. At least we know that you, Miss Rika, and Ichirin are definitely **not** lesbians."

"But we cannot discard you might like both sides," quickly interjects the cute Kyouko, smiling so cutely, it's sickening.

Kogasa screams and cries, then that little yamabiko declares "holy surprises! **** centimeters!** Girl, you should totally flaunt it!"

The karakasa runs to Rika and hugs her while crying "waaaaaaah! My secret's out! Uuu~ Rika-sis, *sob* they did things to me!"

An explosion from within the temple destroys an entire wall, from where the yamabiko and orange-haired youkai fly out of with burn marks all over their bodies, and steaming butts.

The girls crash-land right in front of the cemetery behind the temple, where the upper half of their bodies easily sink into the soft, sacred soil.

Sounding muffled under the dirt, Kyouko asks "did you get the note?"

Sounding muffled, Orange energetically declares "oh yea! the investigation is on!"

The yamabiko flips her thumb up, sorta, and exclaims "excellent! Now all we need is Murasa and that Kappa, and we should have enough data for that computer lady and the tengu!"

The short shorts girl excitedly exclaims "uuu! This is gonna be AWESOME!"

From the new hole on the temple, the blushing and angry Byakuren dusts her hands and says "really, those two are a handful sometimes!"

The hard-blushing and trembling Rika with the steaming right hand sighs, and shakingly says "at least we showed them."

The rest of the girls, including the karakasa still holding on to the maid, nod simultaneously, then everyone follows after the sexy magician, who says "come on girls, it's time for lunch. Let's eat."

"**OH YEAH!**"

All the girls happily cheer on, apparently forgetting their embarrassing situation that happened only a few seconds before, then a silver washtub falls on Nazrin's head, making her squeak like a mouse, before she falls stiff on the ground, where she twitches while being ignored.

* * *

After a nice, hot, and filling lunch, Rika finds herself flying over the Moriya Shrine.

As she lands on the lake's shore, where she thought she saw Kanako, she thinks "_I must let go. I **must **let go. I **MUST** let go! *Sigh* Wow, I never noticed how I let that anger take over my heart this way. Now it's almost impossible to get rid of! But thanks to Byakuren, I took notice, so all I need is to apply a little discipline, and I should be fine._"

She holds her chin and looks up to the sky as she says to herself "but I still need to learn a little more about him. Lady Hijiri said it would.., help me?"

Her train of thoughts turn to the little girl's voice coming from the lake, and after quieting her mind, she can hear the girl's words clearly.

Budou is in a metallic-purple swimsuit, inside the lake water, behind one of the sacred logs, and Phredia is wearing a tiny white swimsuit, though she flies in circles above the little bat's head instead of swimming.

Still not noticing Rika's presence, she asks "...but Phredia, why? Papa is not bad. He fixed what he did too, so why are they punishing him? It's just no fair!"

From the maid's side, it seems the little bat is talking to nobody, even when after a few seconds of silence, the girl continues "more learning? No, that is still unfair! Besides, it's not his fault others always pick on him!"

Another few seconds pass, then the little girl says "yes, that's what I was saying. He tries to stay home, but someone **aaaaallllways** comes and takes him away!"

Rika is unable to contain her curiosity, and calls "excuse me, little Budou? What's that about Ail? Who is taking him away? Who is going to punish him?"

The little girl peeks her cute little head from the side of the log, gasps with fright, then hides again and says "um, no, I was just... er, playing with Phredia! Tell her Phredia!"

"It's alright, little child. Your papa Ail was going to tell her anyway."

Kanako's sudden appearance behind the angel maid startles said girl to the point that she almost chokes on her own tongue, but after quickly composing herself, she turns around to bow to the mountain goddess, and says "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on her, but when I heard onii-san's name, I couldn't help it."

"GRAMMA~" happily squeals Budou after jumping out of the water, and flying straight to the abundant-chested goddess, getting her wet, though she doesn't mind after that little teal-haired girl gives her a hug.

The red-dressed woman rubs that child's hair until she accidentally reveals her pointy ears, which are turning slightly blackish, and when she notices Rika's concern, she gestures the maid to keep silent, and says "she's just a growing girl. Please don't make a fuss, or you'll... _scare her_."

After the woman mouths those two words, the maid straightens up and covers her mouth, then, after looking around awkwardly, she uncovers her mouth and asks "please, tell me what is going on with Ail. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Kanako stares at the girl while Budou falls asleep on her shoulder, Phredia on her head, shakes her head gently, then says "it's alright, child. What he is about to undergo is a meaningful learning experience."

"You see, he was toying around with gaps so much, he thought he was their master, and if things kept going as they were, not only would he have become a most powerful threat, but he could easily do irreparable damage to himself and those around him. That, and the fact that he almost ruined the lives of your mistress, my Sanae, and his own, it all does add up to a well-earned butt-smack as well."

Still seeing concern and curiosity in the shrine maid, the goddess sighs and explains "he will go to a world that will emulate something similar to what he almost created here. In there, he has to get one of us on his side, but if he fails, the world will reset itself, he'll forget where he failed and with whom, and will have to start from zero after every failure."

Rika gulps, her face turns pale, and while looking at Budou, she sadly says "no wonder she's so upset. Poor thing, she only wishes well for her father, but things just keep... crashing around him."

Kanako's motherly smile shines through as she looks at the guest, rubs her head with her free hand as though she were a child, and says "don't look so glum. He'll pass this test, he'll be the calm and wise kid we met long ago, and his life will become a very peaceful one again."

The angel girl smiles, though appears to look sad, then the goddess giggles and says "trust me, he'll be so smart, he'll smell trouble a day before it reaches him, and he will know what to do by the time it gets there. Um... sorta. He's still a mortal after all."

The angelic maid giggles and says "he's Ail. Nothing can be done about that," the crosses her arms under her chest, and glances around the shrine.

Kanako immediately notices this new confusion, then asks "alright, what's going on? You're looking for something here, aren't you?"

* * *

Rika bows, rapidly says "please forgive me," then straightens up, and says "I, um, have a question, about Drake, that maybe a god could answer for me."

The goddess' motherly smile returns as she rocks her body gently for the sleeping Budou, and says "fire away. I'll answer as best I can."

The sexy maid opens her mouth and breathes in the needed air, then she closes her mouth, her eyes bulge, her cheeks puff and turn bright red, then Yasaka notices a pair of small hands wrapped around Rika's soft and ample chest.

"**KYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!**"

The maid's adorable screech of embarrassment echoes all the way down to the Kappa's Village, while said girl jumps left and right, trying to shake the froggy, who is enjoying some wonderful groping.

"Wow, so ample and soft, just like my Sanae," casually comments Suwako while squeezing again and again, just a second before Rika grabs her by her sideburns, knocks her hat off as she pulls the blonde over her head, and smashes her against the hard ground.

The panting, sweet girl quickly realizes what she did, yelps, bows repeatedly, and says "I'm sorry, **I'm sorry,**" then holds her chest with both hands and cries "just leave my brea-my **CHEST** alone! Hauu~ I almost said something rude!"

Kanako sheds tears of joy as she laughs hard and points at her friend on the ground, while loudly saying "WAHAHAHAHAHA! Froggy, flat on her back! This is so rich!"

She reaches for her camera in her pocket, takes the picture, then Budou moans as she starts to wake up, looks up at the mean goddess, sniffles, her lips wriggle, then she slowly breaks out a cry.

"ARGH! Now look what you made me do, lily pad hopper," exclaims the air-headed woman, before bowing to the maid and rapidly saying "sorry, need to take care of this," then runs away to the living quarters.

After that goddess is gone, Suwako stands up, smiling as casually as if nothing ever happened, dusts her skirt, then says "oh yeah, I'm squeezing Sanae again later."

She looks at the blushing angel, smiles dearly, and while placing a hand behind her own head, closing her right eye and sticking out her tongue, she says "sorry about that. I couldn't resist."

She quickly composes herself, takes a more serious look, and asks "now, please, go ahead with your question. I believe I know what it is, and I will answer it for, but you gotta ask nicely."

Though still blushing, Rika straightens up, though so fast, her chest bounces a bit, thus making the blonde blush, and after bowing to the goddess in front of her, she says "I wish to know something about Drake's arrival here."

"He came the very same day the ice twins that live at the mansion came to Gensokyo. It is far too much coincidence for something like that to happen. And so, I want to know, what his arrival here some sort of accident, or did those children have something to do with his coming here?"

"Ah, a question about fate," begins the blonde, takes two steps to the right while holding her chin with her hand, as in deep thought, then smiles as she glances sideways at the maid, and says "not... exactly what I was expecting, but I did promise I'd answer."

She grabs her hat from the ground, places it firmly on her head, and says "first off, understand that everything happens for a **reason**. Nothing happens by accident. That boy was **meant** to come here, he was meant to do all those things he did, bad and otherwise, and you, and that shadow, all of this was meant to happen, all for a divine reason!"

Suwako turns to face Rika directly, aiming those awkwardly ominous eyes, smiles, and says "just like that shadow's bodily sacrifice for your life, it's all for a reason! And with that doubt out of the way, I will now answer your question."

"He was drawn here, as he passed by, by the Icicle Sukima, that very same thing that brought those children to life, drew that godling here. The gap lady did so unknowingly, of course, but regardless, Rika, this was the hands of fate doing their job, and nothing can change that."

The maid remains standing in place, paying her full attention to the wise goddess before her, and somehow, the confusion that haunted her eyes for so long has lifted, leaving those beautiful, kind, steeled and resolute eyes that have always belonged to that angelic maid.

Rika smiles at Suwako, tilts her head sideways, and sweetly says "Lady Moriya. Thank you so much. I... think I'm beginning to really understand."

She closes her eyes, giggles as she flaps her wings, and says "thank you."

When she opens her eyes again, she screams with fright and asks "my goodness! Lady Moriya! What happened? Are you alright?"

That blonde pervert lies on her sides on the ground, bleeding profusely through her nose and smiling blissfully, and Pyonta, her hat, is blushing bright red, and looks happily dead.

The blonde lifts her shaking thumb up, then happily says "I've never been better, sweetheart!"

* * *

After helping the nosebleeding goddess up on her feet, both girls' eyes expand as the floor rattle, after an explosion comes from the living quarters, along with Kanako's bloody scream "**BUT SHE STOPPED CRYING!**"

"You still made her cry, Kanako-sama," shouts one obviously furious Sanae, following with more explosions and bullet shots.

The maid and the little goddess remain paralyzed as they were, wait for the shooting and exploding to stop, and after thirty seconds of silence, Suwako looks at the maid's sky-blue eyes, and says "I think it's safe to move now."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Lady Moriya."

Ail's soft, cold, and sinister tone of voice, causes the curse goddess to panic, and after her face turns blue with terror, she looks behind the angelic girl, chuckles nervously, then says "I swear, I didn't do it!"

Rika watches as a white petal-shaped bullet flies straight and true onto the blonde's forehead, knocking her down to the ground, then turns around, places the back of her hand on her hip, and angrily says "big brother Ail, that was not nice! She's a goddess, for goodness sake!"

The dense boy rubs the back of his head while chuckling nervously, then admits "I didn't really want to do it, but Sanae specifically say '**no survivors,'** so I either follow commands, or get killed myself."

The maid sweats and chuckles nervously, then says "wow, she's really tough, isn't she."

"Oh yes she is," nervously starts the dense boy, then sighs and softly admits "but that's another reason I love her."

The angel-winged girl smiles, shares a quick chuckle, then rolls a strand of hair around her finger, and asks "so... what's this about a punishment for you? What happened after you resolved that issue with Lady Reimu?"

He gives the girl a very pained smile, looks away, and says "what I did almost ruined all our lives. Not just Reimu's and my own. I really did think I was doing the right thing, but time is so fickle. Never had I thought a simple change like that could alter our present so much."

"Ail-nii, what happened? Why are you talking like that?", nervously asks Rika, feeling as though that boy is speaking to her as if it's going to be the last time.

Ail chokes and stammers a bit, recovering himself from that sadness hidden in his heart, then says "ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Um, I am sure Kanako and Suwako told you what the punishment is, and that's about what I know as well. As for the reason... well, I got too confident, and I started to abuse my border manipulation too much, **AND **I seriously lost myself along the way of that little trek."

The cute and curvy maid wishes to comfort the boy somehow, but he prevents her from speaking when he continues "so, Miss Shikieiki, Miss Yukari, and Miss Mima, came up with a way for me to see where that path was headed, and hope such experience will make me a better person than I once was, though Miss Eiki insist it's to make me go back to the way I once was."

The girl sighs, looks to the ground to her left, and says "that seems so unfair. From what Budou said, it wasn't even your fault that you ended up where you did, yet it seems you are the one paying for everything."

Ail chuckles again, looking more natural this time, and says "it's not so bad. I did something wrong, and will do what I must to make all right again, and those three ladies, who care about me, have given me a frightening, but admittedly wonderful chance to do just that, and better myself as a person."

Rika stares at her big brother for some time before finally smiling after realizing that Shikieiki is involved, so it has to be something safe, and worth her involvement.

She bows her head to the boy, lifts her head up again, this time with that warm smile she's been neglecting to use for a long time, and says "alright then. Please be sure to finish with that 'experience' soon. Um, is it alright if I told Miss Reimu about this? She does care about you, a lot... Um, l-like a sister!"

The dense one laughs at the maid's nervous correction, nods to acknowledge her words, then says "no need, little sis. We just came back from telling her. And we would have gotten back sooner when Budou started to cry, but Sanae doesn't want me abusing my gaps again."

His face suddenly becomes distant, and he looks away to the sky with longing in his eyes, then says "you know, this thing of mine has caused grief for so many."

Unable to understand what he means, Rika stares, and wait for the boy to clear himself up.

He turns his sight back to her, gulps, then says "heh, Kyo postponed his wedding, just so that I wouldn't miss it. They were getting married during the winter."

After a long sigh from the boy, the angelic maid flaps her wings angrily, and asks "what? Wait, but why not have the wedding now, before you leave?"

He continues to smile at her, and a tear forces its way out of his right eye as he says "Kyo said, and Luna agreed, that they want the real me, the one that was Kyo's real friend, to attend the wedding, and I, of course, agreed with them, that **that** would be the best choice."

He flicks off that tear, chuckles, then says "believe it or not, I still feel... different. I see you all differently, including Kyo himself. When I return, we will all enjoy that celebration as the family we once were, and are. Maybe you don't understand what I mean, but trust me, it's that important I go through with this first, and be myself once again. That guy he loves as a brother."

He now finds himself being embraced by Rika, and quickly returns the gesture.

She rubs his back and holds his neck, pressing his face against her shoulder, and says "I do understand, Ail. I have just recovered my real self from the darkness, and I will love it so very much, when **you** find your real self, and feel free and light once again."

Sanae and Budou watch them from the sides, sniffling along those two self-proclaimed siblings, and after a long while, all the boy manages to say though his cracking voice, is a simple and soft "thank you," while feeling all that rebuilt tension leave his heart once more.

* * *

Minutes later, after leaving the shrine, Rika lands in a clearing near the river, at the Youkai Forest.

She sniffles and rubs her nose with a napkin, and places it back into her pocket, she says to herself "alright, it's time to find that godling, and deliver that message."

"My, what a rare sight," says the familiar voice of Hina from the river behind.

"The maid of the Hakurei visiting the Youkai Forest. I must say, it is a pleasant surprise to see you here."

The angelic maid turns around with a warm smile to greet the goddess, but when she sees Hina, Minoriko, and Shizuha, she can help but gasp in surprise, but quickly bows politely and says "please, excuse my rudeness. I wasn't expecting to see Miss Hina with company. Good afternoon, ladies."

All three goddesses bow their heads slightly, then the abundant goddess of harvest walks closer, holds her chin and squints her eyes while exploring Rika's chest, and before the maid has the chance to ask, the young goddess smacks a sticker of herself on the left breast, making the poor maid yelp and grunt while holding herself.

The sticker has Minoriko herself, winking while giving a happy thumbs up, and after the maid grunts and whimpers "too hard," the harvest goddess proudly says "you are the symbol of an abundant autumn of eating! *Sniffle* I'm so happy."

Shizuha, who has the same sticker on her chest, only with a sad thumbs down, grabs her little sister by the ear, pulls, and says "stop doing that, sis! You already have the whole village angry at you."

Hina ignores the Aki sisters, and spin-dances her way to the shrine maid, looks at her in the eyes, and asks "so, what, or **who** are you looking for, if I may ask?"

The sweet girl giggles, and says "can't hide much from a god, I see. I'm looking for Drake Starstriker. Hatate's camera showed him frequenting this place, so I thought I might bump into him here."

"**Ooohhhh**," simultaneously exclaim all three naughty goddesses at once, giving the maid a mischievous look, before the curse-collecting girl says "oh, that sneaky boy I thought wasn't straight. He resisted my charms several times, you know. You won't find him here today. Shizuha saw him head toward the red mansion by the lake, apparently running from that weird satori girl again."

Rika giggles again, then says "but I thought that mess was already resolved. Oh well, no matter. I better move on, then."

Though she doesn't need to, the cute and curvy angel flaps her wings after kicking off the ground, and before taking off, she turns around, waves at the girls, says "thank you for your help! Please come to the Hakurei Shrine more often. I enjoyed our little chat, and would love to talk some more. Anyway, see you around."

The girls all wave back, say their goodbyes, and watch the cute maid leave as though in a hurry.

Hina giggles, then looks at Shizuha and says "such a nice girl. I might take her up on her offer. I'd love to chat some more with her."

The elder Aki nods in agreement, while Minoriko moans loudly and says "aww, come on. She pocketed the sticker. Now nobody will see it!"

Hina and Shizuha stare at the abundant girl, remain silent for a while, then the turning leaves girl sighs and says "I knew it. My sister's into both boys and girls."

The curse-collector chuckles and smiles nervously, then softly says "I'll go stand over there," while the young autumn goddess pants furiously, while clenching her fingers and staring death skulls at her older sister.

Meanwhile, after reaching the Misty Lake's shore, Rika seems oblivious of the explosions and screams behind her, while she rubs her chest lightly, and says to herself "hau~ It still a little sore. Miss Minoriko was too rough. Next time I'll have to say something."

She activates her quicksilver, and the second those four extra wings appear on her back, she disappears, and almost instantly, appears right in front of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, frozen in a state of complete shock.

In front of her stands the proud red mansion, and running around it is the godling she's been asking around about, using his divine powers to fix every crack, splinter, or anything in that mansion that may need some sort of repair.

She observes how he takes care of every single detail, and is more than impressed when she realizes he is taking great care with everything, and not just the damage he caused before, but things that have been broken for ages, including a gargoyle statue on the eastern edge of the roof, which has never been completely restored, until now.

The boy stops for a moment after restoring an old window, scans the entire mansion, squinting his eyes as his sight trails off to the farthest areas of the architecture, then gasps and says "those walls look unstable. *Sigh* Better deal with them before someone gets hurt."

There is a loud rumbling, several yelps from the fairy maids, then the god boy smacks his face with his hand, groans, and says "they actually went an shot the crack. Geez, these fairies!"

After he flies toward the collapsed wall, back at the road in front of the gate, Rika stammers, babbles, then finally, Kimi approaches that maid, stares flatly, then smiles as she shrugs and says "you little pervert. Those long pants of his won't let you see too far. You'll have to use your imagination, just like I'm doing."

The maid yelps, exclaims "hey, that's very rude! I'm just surprised to see him doing something **good**, that's all!"

Meiling tackles Kimi away, bows apologetically, and says "sorry, sorry! She just won't stop coming over! Um..."

She notices where the sexy angel's eyes are aimed at, chuckles, and says "yeah, I was as surprised as you when he started working on those bricks on the wall, Marisa blasted last night."

* * *

It takes a while before Meiling's words register in Rika's mind, but when they do, the cute maid's entire body stresses up as she exclaims "**what is going on here? Are you crazy! That boy is dangerous!**"

"Actually, he is quite helpful and accommodating, and once you get to know him, you realize he's just stupid, but good."

The maid turns to face Patchouli, who stands next to Koakuma and Leon, and is surprised by the oddly natural radiance emanating from the usually dull and unfriendly-looking magician.

Before the shrine's maid can ask the obvious question, Koakuma answers "Mister Drake has been helping us with our attempts to keep the twins alive, and thanks to him, Patchouli-sama has never been healthier. Not a single asthma attack for two whole months in a row!"

The purple bean sprout holds her own cheeks as she smiles with rare elation, and softly says "ah~ I feel like I could read a thousand books in a day."

Leon takes advantage of the situation, jumps on the purple-haired librarian so that he's indirectly squeezing her chest, while happily saying "thanks to him, my love has never been better, and more loving."

Rika places both hands on her waist, thinks of a good speech to scold all for being so nonchalant about the god-boy, but then she stops herself, sighs, and says "so, it appears he's really cha-a**-hha-AAHAN~KYAAHH~!**"

"Ooh, so soft and squishy, almost like Meiling's, though her's are heavier" casually comments Flandre while fondling the maid from behind, then jumps off the thrashing, wing-flapping girl before getting smacked any more by those surprisingly soft and hard wings, while the jealous little devil mutters under her breath "stop touching my Rika-onee-chan, you lucky bitch."

The flushed maid crosses her arms tightly around her chest, and angrily says "Lady Flandre, that's not something a lady should do! Please learn some manners!"

The adorably cute vampire giggles while tilting her head slightly right, and says "but we are both girls, so it's ok."

Before the argument can commence, Sakuya appears next to Rika, places her hand on the winged maid's shoulder, and casually says "I apologize. I'll inform the mistress of the little sister's behavior. And yes, the boy has indeed changed."

Rika turns her neck to meet the mansion's maid, greets her with a nod, and more calmly asks "I can see that, but how can you be so sure he won't attack? And how... how in the world did he get Remilia to forgive him?"

"What are you saying?", begins the silver-haired maid as she drifts into a state of mental bliss, and says " of course she would forgive him. My Lady is so kind, sweet, and so forgiving," and in an nervous undertone, adds "when she's in a good mood."

"Sakuya, you really should be careful what you say. The walls do have ears, my dear maid."

Remilia hovers gently to the ground, flapping her wings casually, while Lina holds a tray with tea besides the vampire, and after landing in front of the winged maid, and getting a sweet and respectful greeting from said girl, the chief maid casually bows to her mistress, and smiles while saying "I beg your pardon, My Lady. I will refrain myself from further comments on your glorious person."

The proudly-smiling vampire faces Reimu's maid, then casually says "actually, I beat that guy up so many times when he came by, yet he kept coming back, over and over again, **BEGGING** us to forgive him. I, being such a kind woman, decided to forgive him, and allow him the **honor** of fixing my mansion for me."

To the left, both Flandre and Lina, who has dropped the tea tray, smile while flapping their hands under their noses, then the ice girl mutters "such exaggerations," and the blonde vampire adds "he just came over with his homemade cake and won her over."

"**QUIET YOU,**" snaps the elder Scarlet before giving chase to her little sister, and the mischievous Kori girl.

Rika sighs and looks around, and casually watches as Kimi applies an abdominal stretch on Meiling while angrily saying "tackle **me**, will you! Suffer, little whelp!"

She turns her sight to Sakuya, whom is keeping Koakuma from attempting a chest grab on Rika, while saying "I know the little mistress did it, but that does not mean you can do it too," to which the little devil cries "but it's just a bit!"

She continues looking around and spots Patchouli smashing Leon on the head with a black, thick-covered book, while angrily saying "you try to grab there again, and I'm setting your hair on fire **again**."

The shrine maid continues looking around at such display of peaceful craziness, then begins to laugh, not taking notice of Drake landing to her right.

After everyone notices the guest laughing so much, they all stop what they were doing, stare, then Remilia asks "what's so darned funny?"

Rika flicks a tear from underneath her left eye, chuckles a few more times, then says "it's just so beautiful, seeing such a family getting along so well. I... can't help but laugh."

"I know, right? These guys are awesome. *Sigh* To think I tried to, umm... yeah, let's not bring that up."

When the golding's voice reaches the angel-winged girl, she subconsciously reaches for him, grabs his arm and shoulder, then throws him over her head, and smashes him against the ground.

All the girls around her stare amused, and clap while expressing their awe and amazement.

When she realizes what she's done, the sweet girl gasps, stops herself from helping the boy up, turns her cold and uncaring face, then looks away to hide her embarrassment, while muttering "I'm sorry."

The boy grunts, quickly jumps to his feet, makes direct eye contact with the sexy shrine maid, then says "and it appears I am still that threat to your eyes."

Lina steps up with a goofy troll-face, and says "well, you did go berserk and killed someone special to her."

"**I've changed!**", anxiously demands the boy.

"I have learned a lot since then, and..."

He groans with frustration when he lacks the words needed to speak further, then looks at Rika, straight into her eyes, and says "look, allow me to prove to you how sorry I am. Give me a chance to show you I'm not really the bad guy I... kinda... made myself look like before!"

"That's a mouthful, boy," darkly says the winged maid, glaring at the godling in such a cold, dark, and intense manner, even both Remilia and Sakuya feel unnerved by that sight.

Drake sighs, rubs his forehead, then says "alright, let's do this. I'm gonna head over to Chireiden after I am done here. Please, Miss Rika, come with me and see for yourself, that I am not that monster you think I am."

"You did a pretty good job showing us all the kind of monster you are..."

The girl's words take away all the hope that god had to redeem himself, then she continues "but, I will give you a chance to show me what you have learned here."

As she speaks, a tear escapes her right eye when, in her mind, the conflict between that painful memory of Kali's death, and all that she has learned about the godling that day, plus that message Mina wants **her** to deliver, crash in an arduous battle between what's right, and what seems like well-earned justice.

Though noticing this, the boy bows to the angelic girl, thanks her repeatedly, then says "alright, I'll be done with the kitchen and the library in about an hour, so please wait for me. You'll see, you won't be sorry!"

Rika sighs after Drake leaves to work on the kitchen, then looks around, stares at Flandre, and asks "say, I heard Miss Koishi was around here, yet I don't see her. Was she really chasing Mist... er, Drake around?"

Flandre laughs, points behind the shrine maid, and says "oh yeah, she's around alright."

When the sweet girl turns around, her face turns blue, her eyes become two round, white dots, her mouth disappears as a huge sweat drop rolls around the side of her head, and strands of hair spring right out of her head.

Sakuya, Remilia, Meiling, Patchouli, Kimi and Koakuma, all stand naked in front of the gate, yet don't seem to notice their lack of clothes, or the convenient tree branch censors covering their most precious assets, all while Lina and the little blond vampire laugh, and each cover one of Leon's eyes, who complains "aww, but I want to see my love."

* * *

An hour and ten minutes later, Rika and Drake appear in a flash of light right in front of the underground cave's entrance.

The boy whistles with amazement, and says "your skill with Quicksilver is impressive. We moved from one place to the next, almost as fast as one of Ail's, or Yukari's gap."

"Thanks," mutters the maid under her breath while looking away, still unable to accept that murderous god as a good person.

Her conscience kicks in, however, and quickly faces forward to at least show him the side of her face, and more casually says "come on, I'm sure they're waiting for you down there."

He stares at the girl with uncertainty, wondering if she's going to try and beat him up again or not, but rapidly makes up his mind and hops next to her so as not to raise any kind of suspicion.

The entry is awkwardly silent, though there's a moment when the seemingly angry girl mutters "no sign of Miss Yamame, or Miss Kisume... where are they?"

After reaching the beginning of the natural stream, Drake sighs and says "look, I know it's too late now, but I understand I did wrong. Terribly so, and, though I've said it so many times before, I am sorry."

"If you are, why don't you bring back that girl?", coldly asks Rika, knowing the answer that is to come.

"You know I can't do that," sadly replies the god in training, scratching his head before adding "a decision like that belongs to those you call 'Yamas'."

The maid suddenly turns around to the boy, and angrily says "but you still took it! Not just hers, but other lives as well!"

He lowers his head, and lets it hang as he whines "but I really thought they were going to kill me, and I stupidly believed you were being tainted, or possessed by that shadow girl! That's why I didn't hesitate!"

"We're here," says the winged girl, looking down on the hole leading to the Ancient City, and making the boy feel sad when he thinks she's ignored him completely.

Without another shared word, the maid jumps down, followed by the godling, who is still trying to figure out a way to, at least, make that girl begin to like him.

They both reach the bottom, and land on the bridge to the city, each holding at least five live, crying and complaining fairies that tried to get in their way.

"Silly things," coos Rika as she sets her fairies free, then looks to her right, and catches Drake staring at the complaining, upside-down girls with outmost curiosity.

She is about to scold him for torturing the things, but he releases them all by tossing them up, then blocks their shots with a barrier of light while smiling and saying "they're downright mischievous, but I can't help but like them still."

The angelic shrine maid wants to comment on what she just saw, but Kisume drops from the dark ceiling, inside her narrow bucket, and very friendly-like says "welcome to the Ancient City. Please allow me to see your tickets, or Parsee will spank me!"

That jealousy youkai wraps her arm around Rika's waist, startling the maid, and with a sweet face, and a endearing tone of voice, she says "Kisume dear, I would never spank you in front of Rika-chan."

The tsurube-otoshi and the godling beside her watch with caution as the blonde pulls the maid away.

As soon as the angel's back is fully turned, she twists her body to curse the two cowards with her most vicious, bloodthirsty, jealous face, and ominously says "I'll get you **after** she's gone."

The little green-haired girl yelps, hides in her bucket, and her long rope magically pulls her up, leaving that brown-haired boy to deal with the horrors for Parsee on his own.

The jealous girl's face changes to friendly when Kisume is gone, then casually says "not you, kid. Come on, Satori says you have a very hard job to do, and I'm going to **watch** you work!"

He can hear when the angel-winged girl scoffs in disgust, completely recomposes himself, then anxiously shouts "come on, please! Miss Rika, I don't know what else to do! Please, at least let me know... Will you ever be able to forgive me?"

Parsee takes herself to the background while placing her hands up defensively, and says "whoa. Too tense. Gonna be over here then..."

The maid slowly turns around and looks at the boy with a serene face, though he can see some pain behind them.

She shakes her head, but instead of hatred, the boy hears some anger with deep sadness as she says "I can't. You took a very important life away from me, and who knows how many have lost theirs to your foolishness, how many loved ones you separated by force. Life is too precious, and you went around taking it away like it's nothing. I can't forgive that, Drake Starstriker."

The boy sighs as he lowers his head, smiles when he knows she can't see him do so, and says "I knew you were going to say that. I understand your point, Rika Onkamikami, so I will stop my attempts to get you on my side."

He raises his head to show her his smile, and says "but at least come with me to see Miss Satori and Utsuho. I am sure they'll be glad to see you too."

His honest smile takes her by surprise, and she can't hide that fact, so, accepting the fact that he noticed, she decides to smile back politely, bows, and says "alright then. Let us not keep them waiting."

Parsee jumps in again, holding Rika tightly by the hip, and in her usual, annoyed self, she says "finally! Jeez, you people can be so dramatic! Now come, I need to make the city jealous, as they watch **ME** hold Rika so close like this!"

The maid giggles, making her bouncy pearls jiggle, and as soon as they jealous girl notices, she pokes the one on the right, and grumbles "you're really pissing me off!"

The poor, sweet angel girl yelps as she blushes, and cries "hey, no, stop it! Th-that hurts! What is it about these things today?", all while the jealous blonde repeatedly pokes her breast faster and faster.

Drake just looks away to hide his red cheeks, hoping nobody notices his moment of weakness, by keeping at least five feet behind those two girls and their lewd games.

He stops and gasps after a loud , smashing thud, followed by a long groan, then looks with fright at the seemingly angelic maid, who looks furious as she dusts her arms and says "I told you to stop! That really hurt!"

The jealousy youkai lies on her back on the bridge, moans out of pain, then mutters "that... oni hits... hard."

* * *

A couple of hours later, at the Old Hell, Drake flies up to Chireiden's backyard, followed by Okuu and the cheering Petal.

The hell raven flies closer to the boy, and loudly says "thanks again for helping us. Yatagarasu and I are quite impressed of our knowledge of nuclear fusion. Still, are you sure I can keep control of it?"

The cute little hell raven sits on the boy's neck and starts to wave her arms around, while cheering "yay! Giddyup funny man! Mochi-mochi!"

Even that godling can't help but giggle after that, then looks at the motherly bird girl and says "you'll be alright. He won't let you use more power than you can handle. I made sure to tell him that."

Okuu giggles and smiles while nodding, then grabs Petal, who cheers "Momkuu love-love! Petal love," and gives her adoptive mother a hug after she's pulled off Drake's neck.

The moment the trio reach the top, Satori softly says "thank you very much, Mister Drake. I do appreciate you helping my pets like this. ...No, I don't think we can really do something about the heat."

The boy snaps his fingers and says "drats. Well, maybe I'll try placing a **cold** freshness spell around myself next time."

Orin walks closer, with Rika besides her, and waves her hand under her scrunched up nose while saying "oh yeah. The first time you came and went there, I could smell you all the way over here for whole week."

The angelic maid giggles, and says "well, that must have been quite the-**haaaaaaannnn**~"

She drops on the ground while Koishi fondles her and says "wow, she's so soft, and so weak too," then Petal jumps off Okuu's arms and tackles the subconscious satori to the ground.

She sits on the pervert's stomach, and waves her arms to the air while flapping her wings rapidly, then kisses the greyish-green haired girl on the forehead, and cheers "Ishi-Ishi-shama-love! Pervert! Funny! LOOOOOVE!"

Satori sighs, reads her little sister's thoughts "_first so soft, squishy and sexy, now so cute, cuddly and warm! KYAH! How can I escape? NOOOO!_", then says to herself "Koishi, whatever am I going to do with you?"

Koishi stammers as she looks at that adorable, cheering little girl on her stomach, then grasps her own head and shouts "ARGH! SO CUUUUUTE! I am DEFEATED AGAIN!", then grabs the little hell raven and rubs cheeks with her.

Drake helps the blushing and panting Rika up, and says to the subconscious monster "serves you right, you sick little girl! Jeez, I really thought you would have learned your lesson by now."

He, then, taps the shivering angelic maid on both shoulders at once, and she immediately feels soothed and relaxed, then watches with surprise as the boy goes over to scold the young Komeiji some more.

The purple-haired satori approaches the surprised maid, sighs to get her attention, and says "you still have doubts about him, but you don't want to have those doubts clouding your judgment. Yet, I see you still bring those painful memories up to justify those doubts."

The maid hiccups and stammers a bit, then sighs and says "upgrading that Tiger's and Eagle's Eye bracelet of yours might have been a bad idea, but what's done is done."

Satori giggles, looks at the girl, and says "I am able to read even Koishi's thoughts clearly now. Thank you. But still..."

After a loud gasp, the satori pulls Rika's shoulder to get her closer, and whispers "please, keep that information about Ail secret! The less people know, the better it will be for him."

The sexy girl nods twice, says "don't worry, I won't speak of it," then straightens up, and stares at the godling as he struggles with Koishi, and tries to pull her off his thigh.

He finally pulls the offending girl before she gets too close to his family jewels, holds her by the back of her shirt like some dog, aims her at the shrine maid, and demands "go ahead! Apologize, young monster lady!"

Satori sighs irritably, then says "stop thinking of potato chips and leprechauns, and just apologize, or I'll eat the muffin you hid behind your cupboard, in that red bag you like!"

The little sister yelps and sobs, then cries "stop reading my mind! It's unfaaaaaair," then looks at the boy and demands "and you stop bullying me!"

"**KOISHI**," strongly spits the elder sister, sporting a very sinister look hidden behind a smile.

The subconscious pervert yelps while flinching, bows her body as best she can, raising her round butt at the boy's face, and says "I'm sorry, guest Rika! I won't do it again..." then mouths to herself "for a while."

As soon as the girl apologizes, Satori nods and says "yes, Miss Rika, he has indeed changed a lot. He has learned much, and has truly repented for all he's done wrong."

Rika clenches her fist at that very moment her eyes fill with steeled determination, and before the mind-reader can pick up on her thoughts, she says "Miss Satori, is there anywhere him and me could-"

The youkai picks up on the rest of the thought, and quickly nods and says "come. I have a room for just such things."

She notices the surprised look on her guest's face, grins mischievously, chuckles softly, and says "I do like to have fun with my pets or Koishi sometimes, so we use the gathering room to play danmaku quite often."

Drake stares at the two girls staring back at him, and sensing something odd, he asks "oi, what's with those looks?"

* * *

The maid stands six feet across the confused boy, on a black and white checkered floor, inside a surprisingly expansive, two story room, where everything but the furniture is made of marble, including the rails on the second floor, and the many columns on the first floor, which hold the balconies and paths from where Satori, Orin, Okuu, Petal, and Koishi watch.

Drake stands straight, not even looking ready for battle as he worriedly looks at the maid and asks "are you certain about this?"

On the other hand, Rika is already in her defensive stance, and she's got her golden gate open, her wind sword held sideways, raised to be just under her eye's height, aimed at the godling, and her intense eyes locked on the boy as she tenses up.

"I am! We both use two spell cards, but remember, this is just a sparring match, so no overpowered spells, or killer swords," replies the maid in a strict tone.

The godling shrugs, bends his knees as he summons his gauntlets of light to both arms, both with short blade-like extensions over the back of his hands, and after taking an offensive position, he smiles and says "alright then. Don't hold back, though. You fight me like you did back at the mansion."

A green swirling gust spins around the maid's sword as she holds it tighter, and her eyes seem to glow as she smile with expectancy, and in a low tone of voice, she says "oh, don't worry. I will."

They stare at each other for a while, the maid smiles, then she lunges straight at him, catching him by surprise, and forcing him to block the wind sword with both gauntlets.

He manages to push her off after a loud grunt, then shoots several scattered small, pastel-yellow, round bullets from his hands at her, forcing her to give him some room.

She back flips on the floor like an acrobat to avoid the following bolts of light, swings her sword while she's jumping off her left hand again, then a blade of wind flies fast toward Drake, though in reality, there are two.

The god in training raises an eyebrow, realizing the attack is too easy to dodge, then watches as the blade splits into six smaller blades that spin and twirl around each other, making a large spinning circle of sharp gales.

His only choice is to jump high to the left, and quickly after kicking off the ground, he flips backward to avoid a dive kick from Rika, lands on a marble column, kicks off it, and now blocks the maid's sword with both his gauntlets while still in mid-air.

They grunt as they push against each other, then she activates her Soraogan blood limit, pushes him back to the floor with ease, and demands "hey, fight like you mean it! Quit insulting my prowess, and stop holding back!"

He flips on to his feet, looks at the spot where he was standing before and notices the cuts from the wind blades on the columns and wall, and says to himself "alright, I underestimated her a little too much."

The boy looks up at the fiery maid and loudly says "I apologize. I was merely warming up. Get ready for this," then mutters to himself "heh, and here I was hoping to be on the offensive again. Oh well, irony, I guess."

He slides to the left to avoid a dive attack by the angelic maid, easily blocks her side sword swipe with a gauntlet, then throws a right hook that barely misses her nose, and sends her sliding backward on her feet after the recoil from the attack catches her by surprise.

Rika scoffs, thinks "_oh yes, he's using his powers now. Guess it's time I stopped playing around as well,_" then raises a spell card, but gasps before declaring it.

"Serene Divinity, Countermeasure," declares the boy, surprising the maid with his own spell card, and smiles as the entire room becomes a little darker, just to be illuminated by the countless pastel-yellow and silver star-shaped sparks that fly out of his body, and remains stationary, as though waiting for something.

As the sexy maid looks around at the spell, the godling says "you now have a choice. Give up, or be punished by divinity. I suggest you choose wisely. These things sting."

The girl experiments a bit by lifting her sword up, and watches as all the stars turn red and seem to look at her directly, then lowers her sword and watches as they all return to normal again.

She smiles, chuckles, then raises her spell card after her four ethereal wings grow under her two real ones, and loudly says "if you think I'm backing out of a fight I asked for, think again. Wind Sign, Neppa Senpuujin!"

She sheathes her wind sword, smiles, then a gust of magical green, swirling winds flies straight at the god boy, who thinks it's a good time to move, only to find there are five more gusts of wing headed from several directions, all leaving green oval bullets behind them that seem to home in on his current location.

He has no choice but to take flight, and thinks "_damn, she's swinging that thing too fast. I can't see, so my spell is as good as nothing. Great, such a cool spell, and I have to wing it. So be it!_"

He has to dive straight into a sea of green bullets and whirlwinds to avoid the ocean of the same coming from above, and as he ducks to avoid the attacks, he punches his left hand, and each of the sparks around the room burst into six chains of shard bullets that spread out randomly.

Rika yelps when her next appearance is next to several of those bullets of light, Drakes screeches when his next jump sends him straight in front of a thick concentration of wind bullets, and covers his face with his arms.

The maid tries to move away, but is quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of bullets surrounding her, then the boy screams out loud, along with several explosions, and all his bullets dispel, giving the girl a chance for a much needed sigh of relief.

On the second floor, Orin and Okuu laugh and cheer after Drake's defeat on the first round, then Satori softly says "alright girls, settle down. It was funny seeing his eyes bulge like that, but now the second round is about to start. You don't want to miss it."

The kasha chuckles the last of her laughs out of her system, then says "alright Satori-sama! Let's see what sis has up her sleeve this time."

Petal begins to giggle and coo, and even Koishi has to gasp when they all see that cute girl playing around with one of the godling's silver sparks, as if it were some toy.

Okuu cups her hands together next to her left cheeks and says "aww, so cute! Ooh, and she's got something so shiny! I want one!"

A silver spark materializes right above the raven, bounces off her head, lands on her hands after she cups them together, and cheers when she sees her own silver spark shining on her hands.

The mind reader observes as her pets enjoy their gifts, then turns around to look at the god boy as he struggles to stand up, then says "so, that's how it is. She's gonna get mad, but then again, maybe it'll reach her, and she won't be so."

* * *

Drake dusts his arms from the burns of the angelic girl's danmaku, then says to himself "man, that hurt. She's really hitting me hard."

Rika lands on her initial spot, jumps inside the golden gate and appears on the other side with her fire and water swords in their sheaths, then points at the boy with a confident smile, and says "alright, one more time! Come at me with your all, because I'm not holding back an inch!"

The boy can't help but smile back, takes his fighting position, and replies "bring it! I'm ready for you this time!"

This time, both of the fighters rush forward and clash in the center of the room, but having moved at such insane speeds that the spectators above don't know what exactly happened.

They push each other away and smile confidently as they resume fighting, throwing various attacks at each other.

He swings his right gauntlet and she blocks with her water sword on her left hand, then swing her fire sword diagonally, which he blocks by throwing his left gauntlet up to meet with the blade.

They push each other back, harder this time, giving each other some room, then Rika sheathes her swords, grabs the fire sword's hilt, and as soon as she unsheathes it again, she swings it eight times, making it look like a looping blur, unleashing eight dancing fire dragons before moving slightly to the right and repeating the process.

Drake places his wrists together and spreads his hands apart as far as he can, then pastes pastel-yellow and silver disks in the air, that fly toward the maid almost immediately after created.

The dragons and disks meet halfway through the room, and all twenty-four push back hard against each other before exploding and making a thick smoke cloud.

The two fighters meet in the middle of the smoke cloud, where he quickly takes notice of the maid's fingerless gloves, and how she's going at him with her swords held, but sheathed.

He immediately recognizes the fighting style, and starts blocking the girl's vicious kicks, but they are so strong, it's costing him some effort to keep up, and eventually gets kicked on the stomach.

He manages to keep on his feet while stumbling backward, though holds his sides due to the pain, then gasps when he realizes it is impossible to block the next attack.

The angelic maid jumps next to him, unsheathes both swords at once, and the momentum and impact of the slashes is so intense, he is sent flying hard backward against the marble columns.

Drake coughs after crashing against the magically solidified pillars, slides down to the floor, then raises his left arm to block the next attack, and rolls away before she manages to hit him with the water sword from beneath.

He stands up and watches as Rika crosses those blades in front of her chest, and sees how fire slithers like a snake on the fire sword, and water with bits of ice flows furiously and elegantly away from the blade.

She grins and says "I don't know why I'm beating you now, when back then I could not, but somehow, I have to admit, this feels very refreshing."

The godling chuckles, stands up, raises his next spell card, and says "last time, I was driven by madness and rage, and last time I had my godly powers active. Maybe that's why it's turning out differently. Nevertheless, as weakened as I am, Rika Onkamikami, of the Onkamikami clan, I am still strong enough to defeat you, so keep on your toes!"

Before she can even think of her next attack, the boy raises his spell card, and with passion, he declares "Godly Blessings From the Stars Beyond!"

In just two seconds, Drake's entire body is surrounded by a glowing yellow energy that rises above his head an takes the shape of a Chinese, snake-like dragon, and the second after it grows, its scales take the color of the galaxy, looking as magnificent as Okuu's cape.

Rika stands in shock with her mouth agape, staring at that magnificent dragon that is looking back down at her.

Her sword roars out loud words that only the maid and the magical dragon understand: "**_you,_** **_show her your might, show her you passion. Rika, show him your strength, show him your heart!_**"

The girl's confident smile returns to her as she looks up at the creature, and loudly says "let's see what you can do!"

She sheathes both swords and rushes straight at the boy on the floor, then kicks off the ground to avoid the ethereal dragon's claw.

She reaches its large face, swings her left leg and kicks its snot out of the way, gets closer to its neck, kicks off of it and flips backward, avoiding another claw-swipe from beneath, twirls to gain momentum, kicks the dragon's head to the right, then dives down and unsheathes both swords, cutting the creature's neck and erasing its head, leaving a galaxy-themed pillar with a glowing yellow top.

As soon as she lands, she can see it's growing back, and when Drake shouts "oh, now you've done it. Get ready," she sheathes her water sword, pulls her spell card from her pocket, but doesn't declare it.

As the dragon's body reforms, silver sparks and round bullets fly out in all directions, and while the sparks home in on Rika's position, the bullets sway down like feathers and snowflakes being caressed by a gentle winter breeze.

The angelic girl can't help but admire how soothing the danmaku feels, and how peaceful it makes things look, however, her eyes steel once more when she remembers where she stands, smiles as she raises her spell card and sheathes her fire sword, then declares "even if you have changed, that doesn't change the fact you murdered others! Even if this is just a sparring match, I'll beat you, and avenge those souls you took! For Kali! Fire & Water Signs, Embarco Endo no Zeppa Juujishou!"

She unsheathes a charged up fire sword, and with every swing from it, she unleashes a hellish barrage of fireballs and fire blades that obliterate the godling's bullets, opening a path to him.

The dragon's hands have already reformed, and are working as a shield for Drake, blocking those fireballs, but disintegrating and reforming every time the fire explodes on them, allowing the angelic-winged girl to get close to the boy's main body.

When close, she unsheathes and swings her water sword harder than she's ever done so before, making each swing look like a blue crescent moon that showers the ground with bits of ice that freeze large segments of the floor.

The moment Drake's feet are touched by the ice, Rika flips away from him, then the human maid Suzaku appears in spirit form above the girl and takes the fire sword from her master's hand.

Even in spirit form, the fire sword ignites brighter in the vermillion human's hand, and the snaking flames become raging fireballs the size of small bushes.

Each girl stands on one side of the room with a sword on hand, then the maid screams as she moves forward, signaling Suzaku to move as well.

Drake smiles inside his own barrier-like energy, chuckles, then says "if she had fought me with such passion before, maybe I would have seen the light, but she lacked this much back then."

As the girls get closer, and his dragon finds itself unable to decide which to attack, he thinks "_I'm sorry for what I did to you, Rika. I made you relieve such a terrible memory. Oh yes, I saw it all when you pushed that sword on my forehead. That tree; I felt your pain as you dug that hole under the rain, that blonde girl falling into that hole, protected from the droplets by that same tree, her blood staining your hands... I caused you great pain when I did what I did. What can I say? Well done Rika Onkamikami. You have avenged that shadow girl, but... does this mean that I...?_"

At that very moment, Rika and Suzaku strike his body at the same time, in the center of a perfect 'X' formation, and just like that, the point of impact explodes, and the angelic maid feels another heavy weight leave her heart.

The spirit human-bird maid in red tosses the fire sword back to her master, then says "dinner will be ready soon, Rika-sama! Please come home safely," then disappears after jumping to the air.

The sexy maid grins as she waves at her shikigami and familiar, casually tosses the elemental swords back into the golden gate, cancels her quicksilver and Soraogan mode, then dusts her hands, smiles, and says "and now I feel **much** better, thank you, Drake."

The god boy lies on the ground like a pile of unrecognizable limbs, coughs up a cloud of black smoke, some shards of ice, then grunts "good for you."

* * *

Long after the battle has ended, Rika and Drake stand outside the doors of Chireiden, where they are saying their goodbyes to their hosts.

While Okuu and Petal hang around the left side of the courtyard, looking at their gifted silver sparks, Orin is in her cat form, curled up on her master's hands, while said girl stands under the doorway of her mansion.

Koishi, on the other hand, is acting a little stranger than usual, but they all believe is because she is mad at Rika and Satori for the whole '_being able to read her mind again by means of a bracelet's upgrade_' thing.

"Please come by again someday. My pets really enjoy your company, particularly yours, Miss Rika," says the mind reader, before looking away to hide her terrified face, while thinking "_even though every time you come, my powers get out of control._"

The maid and the god boy bow politely, then the godling turns around and waves his hand as his casual farewell.

The angelic girl grabs his hand and turns him around, startling him and making him believe he's done something to offend her, but when he looks at her calm face, he worriedly asks "is something wrong, Miss Rika?"

The girl sighs after releasing him, shakes her head, activates her blood limit, then softly says "your danmaku. Even though you were just toying with me the whole time, it showed me how much you have changed. From a bloodthirsty and murderous monster, to a peace loving god that respects life, as all gods should. And, Drake..."

She spreads her wings as widely as she can, impressing Okuu and Petal at the distance, and says "though I may never be able to accept your godhood, or forgive you for what you did, you did show that I can trust you, as an ally. As such..."

She gets her wing closer to him, and says "please, take one of my feathers, as a symbol of my newfound trust in you. I may need your help one day, so please, keep this close to Miss Mina and yourself at all times, so you may know when to come."

The boy doesn't hesitate, and politely picks one of Rika's feathers so as not to offend her, and it begins to glow intensely as he holds it in his hand, then, when his love's name registers in his mind, he gasps, stares intensely at the maid, and asks "what did you say? Mina? Wh-why would you say something like that?"

She looks back at him with her usual, serene eyes, and after another sigh, she says "she came to me and my lady this morning. She asked me to give you a message; a message she gave to me straight into my mind. I don't think she'll mind if the others hear it, so here goes."

She clears her throat and closes her eyes as the air around her starts feeling soothing and uplifting, and says "the message is as follows: 'Dear Drake, my darling, I have shared our current development status with the higher council, and they have agreed, my love, that the next world you visit, you will find me there. You'll have to be just a little bit patient, and wait until you ascend again, but I believe this young girl, Miss Rika, will help you expedite your ascension. I eagerly await for you. Yours forever, Mina Estrella.'"

Rika expels her held air, as though not having used any of her breath to speak, then opens her eyes again, and says "to my eyes, you have earned the right to hear that message from my very lips, tee-hee, so be grateful. And how do you feel now, knowing she's waiting for you?"

The boy smiles when a heavy weight feels its lifted itself from his heart, sighs with delight, then a tiny, spinning ball of white and blue light flies out of his heart, and positions itself above his head.

Drake continues staring at that maid as though in a state of deep bliss, and in a dreamy state, he says "I feel... light, uplifted, and so... peaceful."

At that very moment, the tiny light falls on his head and grows fifty times its size, revealing itself to be the yin-yang symbol, consumes the godling, then continues expanding, taking the shape of a Chinese dragon.

The light dims quickly to reveal Drake's new godly body. Crystal scales that reflect sparks of light, covering his entire body, his head sports a pair of long, but blunt white horns on each side, his chin and neck have soft-looking hair, and his eyes look like galaxies from outer space.

The dragon looks at Rika, and speaking telepathically with his human voice, so that all may hear him, he says "_thank you, Onkamikami. I will value our alliance for eternities to come. Despite all that's happened, I hope next time we meet, you'll have forgiven me for my foolishness. Oh, and please, go to that vampire's mansion, and try to help them with the Kori twins, but know there is still a great chance they will fail, so be there to support them in that time of need._"

From the background, Koishi angrily shouts "I knew it! You are a HOT little pervert! Hey, don't ignore me! Ditch that Mina and come with **ME**! I'm a REAL woman, you know! I AM!"

Totally ignoring that girl, the dragon roars softly, stretches its body, glows brightly, then turns into a ball of light, and flies away like a shooting star, while saying "_goodbye my friends. May our paths cross again. And Rika, tell Reimu to hold on to my sword for a little longer. It will come to me when I'm ready for it again._"

After he exits the underground cave, he roars out loud, and from the Youkai Mountain, Kasen looks out the window, smiles, and softly says "we'll see you around, maybe."

At Myouren, Byakuren sighs with relief as she sits on the roof of her temple and looks up to the night sky, gazes upon the dragon's body, and says "and there you go, at last. Take care, you foolish god."

From the SDM's Clock Tower, Remilia looks up at the starry night sky, gazes at the shooting star that is Drake, scoffs, and says "dammit. And I was going to ask him to remodel this tower. Oh well, no biggie."

At Eientei, Tewi, Reisen and Toyohime look up after the dragon's last roar, smile, then the mischievous rabbit says "it's been a long time since I saw someone ascend from this planet."

Toyohime smiles, then says "such a rare sight, coming from this place."

Reisen nods, continues staring up, then says "yeah. A rare sight."

Back at Chireiden's front yard, Koishi keeps fuming and muttering angrily about not getting the boy for herself, while Satori sighs with relief, and says "so, he'll finally reunite with her. Despite all that's happened here, and all the terrible deeds I saw in that mind of his... I am glad."

Rika chuckles, nods, then says "yeah, I have to agree. Seeing him so happy like that made me feel happy for him."

"Breasts, ** centimeters, hips, ** centimeters, waist, ** centimeters! HA, she totally beats you!"

The beautiful moment is brought to a very abrupt end when the voice of Orange claims the peace that was.

They stand around the young Komeiji, who wears a bikini with a frilly, metallic-green top, a yellow, high-cut bottom, and poses sexily while she's measured by Kyouko.

The naughty satori stares mischievously at Nue, who is stomping furiously while shouting "YOU! ARE! MAKING! IT! UP!"

The orange girl points with her thumb back at Okuu, who shivers while curled on the ground and muttering nervously "out of nowhere... thin rope... numbers after," and casually says "you said the same about that gorgeous bird."

Petal pats her mother on the head, while sweetly saying "Momkuu relaxes please. Smile again," and Orin, in her youkai form, just sighs and says "it's alright Okuu, they are not going to eat you."

The undefined one points at the little hell raven, and demands "alright, measure the little girl, and THEN I'll have enough proof to execute you for lying!"

A golden washtub falls from the ceiling, and clangs on Koishi's head, causing the cute and sexy pervert to stumble around while mumbling "whoa... shpinning... falling. Onee-chan... help," then falls on the ground on her side, making her surprisingly curvy figure even curvier.

The three visitors from Myouren suffer from profuse nosebleeding as they stare at that shiny, defenseless body lying there, a strand of hair falling seductively on the tip of her nose, her bikini bottom clinging so tightly around that perfect peach, then Kyouko gulps and says "alright, I'll admit it if you all do."

Orange nods and says "oh yeah, there's no way to deny that."

Nue gulps, clears her throat, and says "lesbian or not, that is hot. That's just sexy hot."

Another washtub falls right behind the yamabiko youkai, making her screech in surprise, all three girls look up to the dark ceiling, then the yellow-shorts girl points and shouts "it's the demon! RUN FOR IIIIT!"

After the three girls run away, screaming in fright, Koakuma reveals herself from the darkness on the ceiling, holding a spell card with a washtub drawn on the front, and furiously shouts "**GET BACK HERE! Nobody touches my Patchouli AND my Lina without my allowing it! Get back here and TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT LIKE WOMEN!**"

After the screaming girls are far away, Satori and Rika stare in complete disbelief at the event unfolding, then the mind-reader anxiously says "seriously! They just ruined a beautiful mood, just like that!"

The sexy maid nods, then says "I'm having a word with Byakuren about this."

Okuu stands beside them with her usual smile, and casually asks "Satori-sama, Rika-chan, who are those?"

The two girls look at each other, but before either can comment, Orin, with crow Petal on her shoulder, shrugs and says "she forgot why she was scared."

* * *

That night, Rika arrives to the Hakurei shrine via Quicksilver, and lands right in front of the left entrance.

There, she is immediately greeted by Reimu, who jump-hugs her, squeezes her tightly, and says "Rika~ You're back!"

Tenshi comes from the right, pushes the shrine maiden way, hugs the maid and squeezes her tightly, and says "Rika~ I've been waiting for you all day!"

Hatate crashes on the celestial's head, burying her under the dirt, grabs the dizzy angel girl, hugs her tightly, and says "Rika-sis~, you're alright! I was starting to get worried."

From the veranda, Marisa and Aya snicker at the poor maid, then the tengu raises her camera, while the witch says "wait for it. Wait for it."

The red and white storms toward the crow and furiously exclaims "HEY! I was feeling her up FIRST!"

The twin tailed tengu releases Rika to point at the maiden, and says "I'm the one that helped her this morning, so I, like, get dibs on feeling her again!"

The furious celestial rises from the ground, roaring as she jumps out of the dirt like some raging zombie, and shouts "I'm her best friend, so **I** get to feel her up ALL I WANT!"

The three girls start arguing amongst themselves and fail to notice the flashes and clicks form Aya's camera, or the maid crossing her arms over her chest and crying "even my mistress is teasing me there! What IS it with these things today!"

The humanoid Suzaku flies casually out of the shrine, hovers over the arguing girls' heads, then grabs Rika's head, kisses her on the forehead, calming her down, and sweetly says "master, welcome back home. Dinner is ready, so please, relax while I serve you."

The sweet maid quickly relaxes, smiles at the maid in red, and softly says "thanks. I am very hungry, so I truly appreciate your help."

The three arguing girls stare at the vermillion bird in human form with white scowling eyes, but none dares say a word, especially when Rika angrily says "hmph. Don't think I don't know about what you three tried to make me wear at Eientei! I overheard those girls talking about you, Miss Reimu! And don't you DARE take your money back! You deserve lack of money for trying to pull such an embarrassing trick on me."

Their faces become saddened puppy faces as the maid angrily walks by them, then all three sigh at the same time, Marisa laughs, then Aya says "don't worry, don't worry! This will still make for a GREAT story!"

At the dinner table, the girls are, somewhat, enjoying a meal of spicy curry, with extra spicy, courtesy of Suzaku, who is enjoying her meal so much, she moans with pleasure after every bite.

Rika eats hers with a most satisfied smile, and seems totally unaffected by the spice, while Reimu needs to drink from her glass of water occasionally, same as Aya.

However, Tenshi, Marisa, and Hatate share swollen red lips, teary, bloodshot eyes, steaming mouths, and although they have just drunk their third glasses of water, they continue to eat.

"Oh gods, so SPICY! But it's so good! AUGH! I can't stop-hah-hah-EATING," exclaims the celestial while fanning her mouth with her hand.

Reimu finishes her meal, casually cleans her lips with a napkin, then looks to her maid, and asks "so? What happened? What did you learn out there?"

Rika drinks some water from her glass, sets it back on the table, then smiles, and calmly says "quite a lot, my lady. I'll begin at Myouren, since I **know** you know what happened at Eientei already."

The maid tells all of her day, of all those she talked to, all those events that happened, though does a great job avoiding the many incidents with her chest, as well as omitting learning about Ail's punishment, and as she tells them her story, the three burning girls forget their lips are still on fire from the spice.

She reaches the part where Drake ascends, and says "and now he's going to meet with her, wherever it is he'll land next. Somehow, I can't really explain why, I feel very happy for him."

Tenshi reaches for her friend's shoulder, and even though her lips are swollen from the spice, she manages to clearly say "well done, Rika-chan! You proved to all that you are better than that god! You let that anger go, and accepted him as another ally. I am so proud of you!"

The Hakurei Maiden chuckles cutely, making Marisa blush, and says "I agree. Rika, I am so proud of you as well. But more importantly, I am so glad you finally broke out of that self doubt. I hated seeing you like that."

Rika looks around the table, as though confused, then adds "hmm, this is strange. I know he asked me to help at the Scarlet's mansion, but for some reason, I seem to know why, and what I need to do there exactly. I can help them with Leon and Lina! Strange... I didn't know I possessed such knowledge of magic."

The black and white grins, though her swollen lips make her look strange, and says "the mansion, huh? I'm curious, so why don't we go there now, ze!"

Hatate nods eagerly, and says "I-if Rika-sis is tired, I can carry her there and back! I don't mind! Pl-plus, um, I'll get a good story for my newspaper!"

Aya laughs, then says "that's if Momiji doesn't beat us to the prints again! But I'm with these two! Let's go there now!"

Before the two tengu know what happened, Suzaku grabs them both by the back of their heads, slams their foreheads against the table, and though smiling, she coldly says "Rika-sama just got here. She's not going anywhere tonight, so you might as well stop insisting. Now, please be reasonable, or remain quiet."

The girls salute the red maid, then Marisa chuckles mischievously, until Reimu casually gives a thumbs down, then the vermillion maid pulls on a sudden rope, and a silver washtub falls on the witch's head, knocking her out immediately.

* * *

Later that night, Rika sits on her futon in her room, with her bath items set aside as she grabs hold and looks at her red scarf with the fiery ends, and the kanji for "Will of-" and "Fire" on each end.

She smiles as she stares at it, and says to herself "you made the finishing touches on this, sis. I haven't worn it for a long time, because I felt I didn't deserve it, but now..."

She gasps when the sudden realization hits her, and the memory of how she has acted all this time, when she was so depressed, of how all her friends tired to cheer her up to no avail, rushes to the front of her mind.

She holds her head as her pupils shrink, she feels as though she's going to go mad, then she mutters to herself "oh-no! I... I've been a hindrance for my lady, my sisters, my dear friends."

She runs out of her room with her scarf on hand, rushes to the living room, panting hard and looking as though she's seen hell, then both Reimu and Tenshi angrily ask "**Rika! What happened?**"

Suzaku, who is in her bird form once again, tweets and telepathically speaks for all to hear "Rika-sama, what's going on? Is there something wrong with your-?"

Before more questions can be issued, the shrine's maid pants one more time, and shouts "**I'M SO SORRY!**"

The girls remain silent, look at each other in confusion, then the maid says "I've been a great hindrance, to **all **of you, especially you, My Lady Reimu, and you, Tenshi! I'm so sorry."

Her words seem to drift and her voice becomes high-pitched as she finishes her sentence and drops on her knees, yet still clutches her scarf tightly in her hand and presses it against her chest for comfort.

She looks up at the girls with fear in her eyes, then asks "I'm sorry... for having being such a pain for you. Will you... please forgive this hindering maid? C... can you forgive me?"

She closes her eyes in wait of the response, but Rika can only feel a pressure around her, and when she opens her eyes to see, she sees Reimu and Tenshi embracing her for both sides as comfortably tight as each can.

The maiden sighs, kisses the girl on the cheek, and says "so incorrigible. There's nothing to forgive, you silly girl."

The celestial rubs the maid's hair in a playful manner, and says "we don't care about that stuff. We are just glad you finally broke free from that shell!"

Hatate surprises all the girls when she gives Rika a warm hug around the neck from behind, and says "silly Rika-sis. Like we would think you are a hindrance."

Marisa doesn't join the personal group hug, though smiles as she says "girl, you seem to forget where you are. This is Gensokyo, paradise of the youkai, and land for everyone. We may seem like picky bitches, but we care for each other. Right Aya?"

The black-haired tengu chuckles as she gets closer, and says "of course, you annoying human! I still wonder what you taste like, though."

The black and white raises her hands defensively as she takes a few steps away from the tengu, then they stop their game when they hear giggles from the maid, and look over as that girl returns those hugs with a very happy smile on her face.

They can't help but feel endeared by the whole scene, and Shameimaru takes a picture of the happy girls, with Reimu smiling while pressing her cheek against Rika's on the right, Tenshi making a peace sign while smiling and holding the maid's arm on the left, Hatate happily wrapping her arms around the winged girl shoulders from behind, and stretching them to avoid touching the girl's chest as she slides forward, and Suzaku perching on Rika's head while spreading her wings.

As the picture flutters down to a dark table, Rika can be heard happily exclaiming "thank you guys! I love you all! Thank you for being here for me!"

* * *

The end...?

* * *

Kaguya and Tewi walk through the black background, the princess holding that white micro bikini from before, and the rabbit youkai holding a navy blue one.

They stop, turn their necks, stare forward with glinting eyes and glowing red crescent smiles, and sounding like zombies, they simultaneously say "**big** **boooooooooooooobs**~"

Reisen screams, runs straight between the girls, breaks a hole out of the black background, crashes against Eirin on the other side, then the princess and Earth Rabbit give each other a high-five, then jump inside the hole, where the Moon Rabbit and Lunarian Pharmacist scream and grunt, as they are forced to wear a completely revealing micro bikini each.

Another picture flutters down, showing Reisen in the white micro bikini, curling up, and crossing her arms over her exposed chest, and as she does, her cute butt is on display for all.

Behind her stands Eirin, wearing her navy blue micro bikini casually, showing off her perfect, womanly, curvy body, and drooling while staring at the Moon Rabbit, and pushing a syringe on Kaguya.

Tewi lies on the ground to the right of the Lunarian, with three syringes already plunged on her arm, left thigh, and right calf, yet staring happily at the Udonge's sexy figure, and flipping a thumbs up.

* * *

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Kali, Kimi, Drake, Mina, and Agava, were all created by Willie G.R.

Drake Spell Cards: Serene Divinity, Countermeasure; and Godly Blessings From the Stars Beyond, were created by Willie G.R. (Similarities are strictly coincidental).

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku the Vermillion Bird were created by Snapshot 2010.

Rika's Spell Cards: Wind Sign, Neppa Senpuujin (Wind Sign Searing Gale); and Fire & Water Signs, Embarco Endo no Zeppa Juujishou (Fire & Water Sign Final Cross that Embraces the End), were created by Snapshot 2010.

JAN 12 2012

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Alright, a quick reminder! Remember that I always have an EX chapter, and it will be posted soon (before the next U.G.).**

**Ok now, thank you for reading all the way down here. Seriously, this chapter became TOO LONG, but I hope it was worth it. I think, though, that I should limit myself a little more... maybe. Ah well, Drake's problems have been resolved, Rika is back to her normal self, at last, and her boobs have been measured, but if I give you the numbers, I will be murdered on the spot by the glaring shrine maiden, so don't expect them, sorry.**

**And so, Icicle Sukima's most serious plot has been resolved, but what about Ail and that punishment that has him so scared? Well, we'll find out soon. After all, I want to finish with I.S., so that I can go and work on U.G.'s final chapters. After that, I finally resume with the Touhou/Kingdom Hearts crossover. Wish me luck, and thank you for reading.**

**_A quick thanks to JEREMI for helping reminding me, AND giving me the idea of adding Drake's godlike dragon body to the fic, AND helping me iron out the details on said dragon. Thanks dude, and sorry I forgot to add this sooner. I blame my scatter-brain._  
**


	21. EX Chapter 21

It's an early late-autumn morning at the Forest of Magic, and at Ail's house, the mentioned dense boy wakes up in what used to be Budou's room, moans as he stretches his arms, and after finally opening his eyes, his gaze becomes flat as he looks around.

His eyes normalize as he looks around the room all over, then wonders when exactly did his mother enter the room and undid all the pink and red on the walls, though the white remains on the window's and door's frames.

As he gets off the bed, he thinks "_it's a nice touch. I guess I can keep it,_" then casually heads to the closet, switches the white shirt and long pants for a new purple sweater, and black pants, and in less than a minute too.

After placing his boots on, he heads out the door, walks out of the room, and the first thing he finds in the center of the restored-to-blue living room, are piles of suitcases and trunks filled with clothes, leather clothes, wooden items, and numerous questionable, adult-oriented toys.

Large black dots appear, one by one, above the boy's head, a black question mark appears after the fifth dot, then he rushes to the master bedroom, where everything is half-restored to how he had it before his mother moved in.

As he looks around, he notices the wooden horse is on the restored side of the room, and after hearing some rustling coming from the closet, he asks "mom, what's going on? Are we spring cleaning in autumn this year?"

Ayalina pops her head from inside the walk-in closet, stares neutrally at her son, then says "no silly. I'm obviously moving out."

Ail raises an eyebrow after the impact of the news hit him, then he echoes "moving out?"

The young-looking mother sighs, walks out of the closet with several bras on her hand, places that very hand on her son's shoulder, looks at him in the eyes, and smiles.

"Yes, moving out. Me and that lovely Yuka have become such good friends, she's asked me to move to the Garden of the Sun with her. I'll be living next to that giant flower you grew. Isn't what wonderful?"

The boy's face becomes pale, then blue, then he starts to sweat as he nervously asks "w-wait a minute. D-don't you and Yuka have those exaggerated fights that end up with you two destroying each other's clothes, limbs, and the occasional-"

"Ah- ah- ah- ah-! I will not have you say such things in front of the little tike," scolds the flower youkai, making her son face palm and demand "Budou, come down from the ceiling."

The little bat youkai and her elf fairy, Phredia, drop from the darkest corner of the ceiling, giggling and cheering as they fall on the boy, and right after he catches the youkai, she hugs his neck and says "good morning papa! Gramma has been working so hard since this morning. I've been watching."

He hums suspiciously while raising the right corner of his lip, his right eyebrow, and in a disapproving tone, he says "and you haven't been helping, have you."

Ayalina punches her son on the head, and smiles while saying "dears, why don't you all just go and eat breakfast, huh! I'll do this faster if you're not getting in my way and slowing me down."

The dense boy sighs in defeat, not taking notice of the terrified look on both Budou and Phredia, and says "alright, we'll eat. I'm a little hungry anyway, but we're going to help you out. And since I'm guessing your new house is built, we'll even help you move... though... mom, are you sure about this?"

She suddenly grabs her boy, the bat and the fairy all at once in a strong hug, coos, and happily exclaims "oh, you are so sweet!"

She quickly drops them on the floor, and coldly says "but really, don't help me, or I'll get mad~"

The woman quickly moves into the closet again, and from there she says "as for your question, yes I am quite sure, dear. I have taken up your space for quite long enough, and honestly, I miss having my own place. Can't even have my boyfriends over."

The dense one twitches and wants to argue about the whole 'boyfriends' thing, but decides it's safer to shrug it off, picks himself, his little girl and fairy up from the ground, then says "alright, I understand. But seriously, if you need help, please let us know."

As he walks down the corridor, the perverted woman loudly says "oh, and Ail, you can keep the wooden horse. I'm sure you and Sanae will give it better use than I will... Besides, Yuka says she has a spare."

Ail casually sighs and replies "alright. Thanks mom."

Somewhere, over at the Moriya Shrine, Sanae, who is in her almost-transparent sleeping dress, springs up on her bed, sweating while panting hard, blushing and shivering, and growls to herself "what was that ominous feeling just now?"

* * *

Moments after breakfast is done with, the door to Ail's house opens up, then the dense boy quietly flies out of it by force, followed promptly by the tossed, giggling Budou, and Phredia, who follows after the bat.

Ayalina stands firmly under the doorway with a most ominous smile on her face, so Ail, after having caught his adoptive daughter, rubs the back of his head, and asks "come on, mom. We only tried to help. Say, you're not still angry at me for standing up against you, right?"

The woman sighs, slumps, then straightens up before coldly saying "yes, I am."

She crosses her arms under her chest, squeezes herself as she gazes to the distance, an ominous shadow covers her eyes, and she calmly says "to be honest, I am still a little miffed about the whole thing, but it's like Yuka says..."

She turns a more naturally smiling face to her son, and says "each seed must be given space, so they can grow strong on whatever soil patch they decide to grow on."

Somehow, that analogy strikes the boy and his bat as odd, but both seem to silently agree to agree with the woman while looking at each other in confusion.

"Now then, get the hell out of here while I finish. Goodness knows how much time you three made me lose while yapping out here."

Her overly cheerful tone of voice clashes with the dark and dangerous looks she has adopted, but Ail gets the message, stands up, and quietly flies away, with Budou on his hands, and followed promptly by Phredia.

Later that morning, his gap opens up in front of the donation box at the Hakurei Shrine, where they both drop a few coins into, immediately after exiting the rift, give their prayers, and when the shrine maiden fails to appear, the little bat youkai comments "looks like Hakurei sis is out."

Suzaku flies over, lands on the boy's head, and happily says "_you are quite right, my dear._"

Ail raises his hand and says "hey there Suzaku," then the vermilion bird lowers her head to allow the guest to scratch her behind her cheek.

Budou stares intensely as the red bird, her face becomes steeled, then very suddenly, smiles and cheers "FIRE-CHAN! Hello!"

The vermillion bird raises an eyebrow, along with a confused squawk, and just after she jumps off the dense one, the boy asks "so, where are they? Is everything alright?"

She lands on the donation box and roosts on top, then says "_oh, everything is fine. They just went to the Scarlet Devil Mansion to help with something. Miss Aya, Miss Hatate, Tenshi and Miss Marisa went there as well._"

The boy scratches his head with his index finger, and while the elf fairy and the little youkai mimic him from behind, he says "well that's kind of vague. Ah well, I guess we'll go see Sanae then."

"_Actually_," begins Suzaku, taking flight once more, and fluttering in front of Ail.

She tweets loudly, then says "_mom and master asked me to stay here to wait for you. They didn't tell me why, exactly, but I believe it would be adequate if you were to go and meet them there._"

The dense boy finds himself feeling a bit uneasy about going to the mansion, so he looks around for a bit, and asks "s-say, Mima wouldn't be around here, would she?"

"_I'm sorry. I think you felt I was trying to force you to go there,_" says Suzaku, specifically to him, to which she adds "_please forgive me. I just wish you'd go meet them there. Master said she was hoping you, or maybe Miss Yukari would go there._"

The boy bows, shakes his head, then says "no, it's just... um, no, never mind that."

There is an awkward silence that even Budou feels odd about, then Ail sighs and says "so the mansion," then smiles brightly and says "alright! It's been a while since I've gone for an actual social visit! Budou, Phredia, let's go there!"

The little bat cheers, while the elf fairy silently raises her fist in the air, then the vermillion bird takes flight, and says "_I am very grateful to you, Ail. Rika-sama will be pleased. Now then, I'll stay here and guard the shrine, so please go on ahead without me._"

The dense one waves at the red bird, opens a gap, holds Budou on his arms, then says "alright, let's see what the girls are up to, shall we?"

The teal-haired girl winks and lifts a thumb up, and exclaims "let's go see Hakurei-sis and Rika-chan!"

With that, they enter the gap, followed by the little fairy, and just like that, the shrine becomes the quiet, deserted, but beautiful spot it's always been.

Suika peeks her head from the roof of the shrine, looks around with those narrowly-opened, drunken eyes, says to herself "jeesh, sh-shome pheepole are sho noizy!" (Jeez, some people are so noisy)

After saying that, she takes a huge swig from her gourd, gasps with delight, then drops back on the roof to continue her drunken nap.

* * *

A minute later, Ail's gap opens right in front of the mansion's gate, and shortly after, he and his little bat youkai with the fairy jump out, look around, and the rift closes.

They both feel their necks get tighter as their feet forcefully leave the ground, and before either can ask, the hug-crusher Meiling exclaims "AIL~ BUDOU~ Welcome! Really, you don't visit enough these days!"

The poor bat tries to fly away like the lucky Phredia, and out of breath, cries "please. Air! AIR!"

Chocking and gagging, the dense one manages to say "Meiling! Hi! Chocking! Please!"

The gate guard releases the two before ripping their necks in half, chuckles nervously, and says "whoops, sorry. I got overexcited. Um, s-so, how are you?"

The poor Budou is so frightened by the whole ordeal, she whimpers cutely while hiding behind her papa's legs, and looks up with frightened, sad puppy eyes at that red-haired woman, causing her to bleed through her nose almost instantly.

The dense boy rubs his neck, rubs the bat's head to comfort her, and says "well, aside from almost having our necks snapped, we're fine. Umm, say, where's Remi? I want to say hi to her."

The gate guard crosses her arms in front of her chest and sternly says "I'm sorry, but My Lady Remilia is currently asleep, so you cannot meet with her... but..."

She relaxes herself, places her arm around his neck, and says "well, Hakurei asked me to tell you to go over there, to the east of the island, and help Lady Patchouli convince the angry yuki-onna to help. It has to do with the twins, so she's a little touchy today."

The boy salutes the guard, and with a smile on his face, says "alright. Go meet the scary satori (all-knowing) shrine maiden, help the magician out, but be careful she doesn't blast me. Got it!"

Meiling giggles, bows her head, then says "much appreciated."

She notices him still standing there with that extremely disturbing, bubbly smile on his face, and asks "w-what is it?"

The dense boy with the bat girl sitting on his shoulders, points behind the gate guard and asks "what is she doing there?"

Kimi leans lazily against the mansion's gates, and seems to be ignoring everyone around her, until she takes notice of the pointing boy, grins mischievously, and casually says "it's rude to point, boy."

Out of a feeling of unease, and self-preserving instincts, Anilan activates his Yozoragan blood limit, chuckles nervously while lowering his hand, and says "r-right, sorry."

Meiling sighs and says "she's been hanging around me all the time now. I've gotten used to her already, but she... she's a little..."

When the shadow dragon lays her eyes on those ethereal dragon wings growing out of the dense boy's back, a naughty coo escapes her drooling lips, and with a sinister and lewd smile, she asks "say, young man, how would you like one of my, heh-heh, _'personal_' massages?"

They boy notices the immediate embarrassed and frightful look in the gate guard's face, sweats as he chuckles nervously, shakes his head, and says "no offense, but, er, I'll have to decline this time. M-maybe some other time."

Kimi is obviously angered by the reply, yet she only scoffs disrespectfully, and says "like I'd give you one anyway! Coward!"

Budou looks with confusion at her papa, then looks at the mean Meiling-look-alike, and says "wow, what a rude bitch. Seriously, she needs a spa-sss... spanking!"

She smiles ever so innocently as she giggles, and says "that's what gramma Ayalina would say!"

Surprisingly enough, Ail takes notice of the shadow's murderous, and unfriendly expression, says "um, it's time to go see Reimu. See ya," then rushes off to the side of the island with his bat youkai still riding his shoulders, and making sure she remains there, and completely ignoring yet another unwanted thing learnt from Ayalina by the cute bat.

Meiling sighs with frustration, face palms, turns to face her shadow self, and angrily exclaims "hey, they are very good friends! Don't freak them out like that!"

Kimi frowns, looks down to the ground, then softly mumbles "um... sorry."

The gate guard is so shocked by that totally unexpected reply, the color of her hair, skin and clothes spills to the ground, and all she can do after that is stare at the blushing shadow with lifeless white eyes.

* * *

Minutes later, Ail, Phredia and Budou reach a sort-of meeting spot at the eastern shore of the island, where the enraged Cirno is being smothered by the Kori twins, who keep calling her their mother.

The ice fairy struggle to stop Leon from rubbing his cheek against her stomach by trying to push him off, furiously grunting "get. off. me! I'm NOT your mom!"

At the same time, Lina clings on the fairy's back, while cooing and repeating "mama Kori."

Before the trio of newcomers can say something about that particular scene, Marisa dives on her broom in front of them, and exclaims "Ail, welcome! This is awesome! Now the messy fun can begin!"

"Now wait a minute Miss Marisa-" begins arguing the boy, then Rika, whom is wearing her red scarf around her neck again, appears right next to him, startles him, bows, and says "big-brother Ail, welcome! I'm so glad you came! Now we can get somewhere."

"Rika-sis? Wait, what do you-?" tries to question the dense one, then Reimu comes from behind, places her hand on his shoulder, and says "Ail, how are you? So glad to see you," while giving him a friendly hug with her right arm.

"Miss Reimu, hi. You're calmer than Meiling said. What's going-?" again tires to question the boy, but Tenshi grabs him by his waist, easily lifts him up, separating him from the bat and the fairy, and says "no time, no time! Rika has to help them, but first you have to help the purple girl. Come on!"

Before the celestial can keep on yapping, the surprisingly clever dense boy opens a gap in front of her mouth to shut her up, and casually says "Miss Tenshi, hello to you too. I'd love to help, but first I need to know **what is going on,** wouldn't you agree."

The gap is closed as soon as the girl stops walking, then she looks up with wonder at the boy with ethereal wings and starry-sky eyes she's holding to, and casually says "oh, that's right. Rika-chan hasn't told you yet. Ha-ha-ha!"

She places the dragon-winged boy on the ground, smiles all friendly-like, pats him twice on the arms, and says "Rika-chan, it's time to explain stuff to this dense kid."

"Why you-" exclaims Ail, reaching for the retreating celestial's neck, though stopping himself from actually grasping her, especially while she wears such a friendly smile, rubs his forehead to relax, then looks to his right, and asks "alright, what's the situation then?"

Instead of seeing the lovely shrine's maid, he sees Aya and Hatate, sissy-slap-fighting while screaming at each other at the same time, which makes it sound like their squawking at each other, which is quite fitting for them.

Amongst the rapid babble and arguing, he can distinguish the black haired tengu shouting "the article is MINE! Go get week-old news like you used to", and the brown haired tengu shouting "she's MY Rika-sis! The article belongs to ME! Besides, you got Drake's ascension covered already!"

The dense boy raises an eyebrow, and asks "Drake's ascension?"

From his left, the Hakurei Maiden shrugs, and casually says "yeah, he left. Rika did something naughty to him, and he left."

The flushed maid bumps her fists lightly on her mistress' back, looking distressed while complaining "my lady, don't make it sound like something dirty!"

Reimu can't help but chuckle playfully as she walks away, then Rika sighs with relief, and says "yes, well, it turned out my hating him so much was causing him to stay attached to this place, so once he showed me I could trust him, and I accepted his change for good, he became a god again, and left..."

Ail smiles as he looks at the maid, and after an awkward moment of silence, he says "so, that's why you're more yourself, and wearing your scarf again. You're finally free from all that. I'm very happy for you."

The sexy maid can't help but grin at the boy, but quickly composes herself, and says "yes, well... thank you. Um, now about the current situation."

"Before he left, Drake left me with the knowledge to help with the twins, BUT, we need you to help Miss Patchouli convince Miss Letty into making it snow, snow made specifically with her power mixed with Miss Cirno's, so that we can try and perform a spell that will make Miss Lina and Mister Leon into elementals, so that they can stay here, and live in Gensokyo forever."

She holds her chest and pants several times, then looks at the surprised boy and says "wow, that was a mouthful!"

Budou and Phredia clap with admiration at the winded maid from the sides, while the dense boy just smiles and asks "and where are said girls, then?"

The angelic winged girl manages to compose herself, points behind herself, toward a recently-made clearing, and says "I must warn you, Miss Letty is... a little angry right now."

"Go papa! You can do it," cheers little Budou while pumping her fist in the air.

Anilan just chuckles nervously as he wave back at her with his fingers, then gulps, his ethereal wings become a little brighter, and then moves toward the clearing.

There, he is immediately met with the sight of Patchouli at the farthest right edge of the clearing, shaking her fists in the air while furiously demanding "if you don't do it, I am going to turn you into a snowflake and drink you with my coffee! I'll make sure to eat EXTRA nasty stuff too!"

Letty flies several feet above the magician, crossing her arms under her chest, and looking angry, away from the mansion, without saying a single word.

The purple haired librarian snorts, suddenly turns her head toward the boy, frightening him with that intense face, storms straight at him, grabs his arm, and pulls him toward the youkai.

As she does, she angrily says "come here! She likes you. Everyone seems to like you, so convince her to help us make snow along with that ice fairy, so I can make Leon and Lina stay with us!"

He can only stammer as that magician continues to pull him, then, when he's directly underneath the yuki-onna, Patchouli squeezes his shoulder, and threateningly says "and don't think that just because you'll do this I'll forgive you. I will want to battle with you so that I may test that failed spell."

He smiles at her, chuckles nervously, and says "sure thing. Er, so what exactly has been going on here? Why is Miss Letty so mad?"

The winter youkai hovers down in front of him, points at the magician to the right, and angrily says "she thinks that after waking me up in spring, **THEN** waking me up two days **before** winter, that I'll be helping her with anything."

She flips the middle finger at the magician, and with passion, shouts "SCREW YOU, LADY! Waking me up during an autumn of sleeping! BITCH!"

Before the secretly sexy librarian spits something unhelpful, the dragon-winged boy lifts a hand to signal her to stop, places his hands on Letty's shoulders, smiles, and softly says "hello my winter friend, it's been a long time since we've seen each other. I am glad to see you."

Whiterock immediately calms down as she stares into the boy's starry eyes, and as if in a trance, she softly says "um, hi Ail. S-sorry, I was so angry, I forgot we haven't seen each other in so long."

The dense boy smiles cheerfully at her, then softly says "it's alright. I know how blinding anger can be. But now, I need to ask you a favor of you. To please work with Cirno-chan, and create magical snow, so that these people can save those children of the ice. Can you do that for me, and take revenge on Patchouli after you're done?"

There is something odd, and Patchouli knows it. It's like Letty is in a complete trance while looking at that boy in the eyes, and watches as she nods and softly say "alright, I'll help, but only because you asked," and feels angry when that winter spirit smiles so warmly at the boy.

"How did you melt that winter spirit's heart so easily, you jerk?", angrily asks the magician, getting a powerfully cold punch on the head, by the smiling yuki-onna, thus, making the dense boy shake his head while holding his forehead.

* * *

The twins are now held back by Rika and Patchouli, while Letty and Cirno stand in the very center of the clearing, the yuki-onna focusing her power, while the ice fairy looks eager and ready.

"Focus," calmly demands the lavender-haired woman, then the little fairy calms down, focuses her powers in front of her own hands, and even with her eyes closed, she excitedly says "look, Budou, I can focus it more now!"

The little bat youkai on the blissful Tenshi's lap cheers, and happily replies "way to go, Cirno-chan! Keep focusing!"

Letty kneels behind Cirno, slowly places her hands on top of the fairy's, and in a sudden flash of white and blue, the entire right half of the island, and part of the lake, gets frozen, and covered in snow.

The boy and all the girls present, save for Aya and Hatate, who were too busy chocking each other, are saved from getting encased in a thick sheet of ice and blanketed with snow.

Ail smiles at the winter girls, gives them a thumbs up, and says "thank you both very much."

The cute ice fairy raises her fist in the air, and cheers "you can count on the strongest fairy, Ail," while the yuki-onna flips a thumb back up, winks, and blows a very discrete kiss, causing Marisa to repeatedly pat the boy on the back and say "you Casanova you!"

Patchouli rushes forth, completely ignoring the teasing witch and the blushing boy, then drops on the ground and commands "Koakuma, come! Miss Rika, if you'd be so kind as to tell me where the runes go!"

Koakuma flies straight toward the magician from the mansion, though from where exactly she came from is a mystery, even for Reimu.

Rika flies by, looks back and shouts "nobody but, the twins, Miss Patchouli and Miss Koakuma are to step foot in this snow! This is VERY IMPORTANT," then turns her neck forward and says "their names are to be written with the Phoenician alphabet on the north, and their element in Latin on the east!"

As the maid continues shouting instructions, the dense boy walks closer to the shrine maiden, and asks "so what exactly are they going to do here?"

Leon and Lina walk by, holding hands, giving the two a smile with a distant and sad look behind it, and as they slowly continue on their way toward the librarians, Reimu whispers her answer.

"Drake left Rika with very specific instructions on how to help those two become permanent residents. The thing is, come spring, those two will disappear, thought thanks to Drake himself, they can last until summer... maybe."

She notices the look of surprise on the boy, but continues in a more normal tone "with this, they hope they will remain here at all times, without the risk of disappearing after winter, as all elemental echoes should. This spell is meant to turn them into actual elemental youkai, so they at least can have the strength to withstand the seasons."

The dense boy suddenly shares the same sad smile the twins have, and as he looks at them, he says "I see. But Miss Reimu, there's ...something off about this. I don't want to be a stick-in-the mud, but I cannot see this happening the way they want."

The red and white sighs, wraps her arm around the boy's shoulder, and says "I know. I have that very same feeling. But Rika is really into this, so I want to support her, and see if I can do something to help. And who knows, maybe it could work. Though... Drake himself said that-"

"That it could fail," finishes the boy, getting a surprise squeeze on the shoulder, before continuing "it is not impossible to make something like this work, but it is hard. So very hard."

There is a moment of uncomfortable silence between them, Reimu unwraps her arm from the boy, who suddenly repeats to himself "hard... but not impossible," then smiles at the maiden and adds "you're right Miss Reimu. Maybe our being here can make this work."

The girl turns her neck to show him a hopeful smile, he gives a hopeful smile back, and for the time being, remain where they are, away from the circles being drawn, watching and waiting, in case either of them is needed for something.

* * *

Rika and Patchouli inspect each finished magical circle for the fiftieth time, and finally, after almost two hours and a half, nod in agreement, then Rika declares "alright, Miss Lina, Mister Leon, please choose a circle, and stand in the very center."

"**FINALLY**," exclaim both Tenshi and Marisa at the same time, whom sit on a tree branch of the same tree, the celestial still holding Budou on her lap.

Koakuma and the twins, the ones that should be the most anxious, quietly stand up from the ground, dust the snow from the laps and their seats, and head toward those magical circles.

Ail and Reimu, having taken the thawing tengu inside the mansion to be tended by Sakuya, watch with great interest from the skies, their face intensifying with every passing second, unable to shake that bad feeling in their hearts.

Lina picks her brother up and flies him to the center of his circle, so he doesn't damage any of the funny letters on it, and as she flies to her circle, Leon looks up at Rika, then at Patchouli, and in a low tone, says "my love, Miss Rika, even if this doesn't work, I want you to know how happy I am you tried this hard to keep me and my sister here with you."

The purple-haired magician is visibly and understandably upset, but before she can shout, the ice girl loudly says "Miss Rika, Patchy, my sexy pet Koa, like my brother said, thank you for trying so hard, but keep in mind this still only has a sixty-two percent chance of success. Don't lose your hopes if it fails, please!"

Patchouli's face softens after the girl's declaration, and along with the little devil, it looks like they are about to break down to cry, but instead, the magician firmly says "it will work. Have some faith, you two."

Koakuma merely nods from the side, but refuses to speak or look at the twins in the eyes.

Rika taps the purple magician's shoulder and whispers "it's time," then she leaves to join her mistress and self-appointed big brother.

The purple-themed librarian flies down to the ground, nods at her assistant, then proceeds toward the center of both magical circles.

There, she places the magically polished water stone, which has taken a snowy blue glow, between both circles, and both immediately fill with bright blue and purple lights that entwine and marble as they flow within the circles and writings.

At that very moment, Ail, Reimu and Rika spot Cirno peeking her head from behind one of the trees nearest to the twins, thankfully keeping herself off the snow, then all three seem to see something important enough to look surprised, and quietly dive after her.

The purple-haired girl stands exactly five feet in front of the two circles, the red-haired devil on the back, then both girls look up at the sky, extend their arms to their sides, their pupils shrink, and they both begin to chant rapidly, causing blue bolts rise from the circles themselves, and crackle while jumping and swiveling around the snow.

Meanwhile, the dense boy grabs the ice fairy from behind, shushes her to calm her down, then whispers "come, I need a little more help from you."

She smiles and sighs with relief after calming down, then says "of course. You are good to me, so I will help, so just ask next time. You scared me."

The boy giggles as he smiles goofily, then says "sorry about that. Now, I'm going to fill you with energy, and you're going to start feeling a little warm, but don't be scared."

"That's right," says Rika, whom has activated her Soraogan mode, along Ail activating his Yozoragan mode, wowing the fairy and making her feel at ease after she gazes upon those large angelic wings, then sweetly says "now be a dear, and show me your Icicle Fall, please. Oh, but stay with Ail. I don't want you falling off."

As if in a trance, the fairy sighs as she lifts her spell card, and sweetly says "for the angel and my favorite person, Icicle Fall!"

Cirno's spell mixes with Ail's own power, opening a large Icicle Sukima above the ritual site, and Rika scratches the fairy's head while giggling to keep her distracted from the frightening and noisy rift.

Meanwhile, Reimu throws several charms and needles at the icy gap, and they all settle on the north, south, west and east of it, a massive border made of white and light-blue beams forms into a large square, and the gap expands, adding visible and tangible energy to the librarians and the twins that seems to shower from inside of it.

Only seconds after, vines made of ice start growing on Leon and Lina's upper arms, upper legs, their torsos, and under their necks, and a strong wind blows all around the librarians and ice echoes.

"What's going on?", screams Marisa with worry, and after taking notice of the twins, she desperately shouts "PATCHOULI! Patchouli, Koakuma, stop! Stop right now!"

"**JUST A LITTLE LONGER! THEY'RE ALMOST DONE ABSORBING THE ELEMENT**," screams the purple-haired girl, doing her best to keep focused and aim energy from her hands to each of the Kori.

The Icicle Sukima closes up, forcing Patchouli to scream a loud curse as the magic in the circles stops flowing, the vines growing around the twins melt, then a bright ball of light dives from above the clouds, and stops ten feet above the twins.

Rika gasps with surprise as she stares at that orb, and exclaims "oh no, not again!"

In a flash, Drake and Mina's frames appear before all, and shortly after, they hear the girl giggling happily while clinging on the boy's shoulder.

"M-Mina, sweetie, we're here, we're here," anxiously whispers the boy, making his girl yelp and compose herself, then clears his throat, and says "Rika, I am so glad you got my instructions."

The maid face palms, sighs, then says "that gap thing forced you back here. I'm so sorry Drake, and Miss Mina."

The light behind the gods dims down, revealing them to be in translucent human bodies, then Reimu is the one to say "oh, semi-physical astral projection. Heh, that's so easy for you gods."

The two gods raise their hands to quiet the girls down, then Drake sighs and says "I'm sorry, but this isn't a social visit. We came here to stop you before you send four souls to the borders between eternity and death, by accident, of course."

Patchouli looks up at the gods, and furiously demands "no! We had it under control! We just needed another minute! We almost had it! We almost HAD IT!"

She wants to cry, but she's too angry at the moment, and without thinking about it, shoots a Royal Flare without a spell card, breaking Reimu's rules before her very eyes, though the intensity of the spell is so much, the snow melts in an instant, and everyone around the area needs to cover for fear of getting burned.

Mina takes front and center, grabs the sun with her own two hands, and turns it into a soothing yellow light that heals all from any wounds, be them old, or recent, then returns to her man's side as the healing rain continues, and says "please don't do that. You might hurt your loved ones."

The purple-dressed librarian drops on her knees and hands, sobs as she lets herself fall on the wet ground, and says "but we were so close!"

Marisa kneels, grabs the magician by the shoulders, lifts her up, slaps her face twice, then says "you idiot, you were about to kill yourself, Koakuma, AND the twins! Not to mention melt me and the others with an illegal ROYAL FLARE! I can't believe I'm saying this, but be more damned careful!"

Patchouli looks around and sees Tenshi holding the frightened Budou tightly around her arms under the tree they were sitting on, Ail and Rika uncovering Cirno from their embrace, and Reimu looking annoyed in front of Koakuma, who holds Leon and Lina behind the shrine maiden's barrier.

She looks back at the black and white, notices the bit of singed hair on her left, then says "buh... but I don't- ...It was supposed to work," and a tear rolls down her left eye as she tries to smile.

The blonde witch finds this pathetic, and at the same time endearing, but before she can make fun of this, Drake softly says "ah, Miss Knowledge. Someone such as you shedding tears for someone else, and not just thinking about those books you cling to. Now I'm even more pained to have to inform you of my own failure."

Mina bows her head, the boy follows her example, and sweetly says "my Drakey and I begged the council to help you on this matter, but I'm afraid all we managed to do for you was what you just got there, on your right hands. We really wanted them to help you more, but that is all we could manage."

Koakuma suddenly gasps and exclaims "Lady Patchouli, look," and shows everyone a blue spell card on her right hand, with Lina's cocky, smiling face, giving an 'OK' sign with her hand.

The librarian frees herself from Marisa's grasp, lifts her right hand, and watches how a light-blue spell card with Leon's picture, winking and giving her a thumbs up, materializes right on her hand, then mutters "a summon."

The god boy nods to the magician, and says "yes, they are now summons to you and Miss Koakuma. However, your efforts were not in vain, and your risk was well worth it, for you have granted them with another year of life, and the ability for them to return in body each, and every winter, for as long YOU live."

The purple-themed girl manages to smile to that bit of good news, but the slight pain in her heart remains, though it is mostly from her hurt pride as a highly skilled magician.

Drake looks to Rika, bows his head, shows her the feather he got from her, winks, and as he pockets it again, says "now then, time's running short. Again, I am so sorry this is all we could do for you. I truly wish we could have achieved more."

The maid nods once, and says "it's alright. At least you tried, I guess," then Ail waves his hand casually, and says "don't worry. Rika and I, and Miss Reimu, of course, will take care of things here."

The two gods nod, Mina suddenly jumps so that her boy catches her, and giggles while Drake nervously says "honey, they can still see us!"

They vanish in a flash of light, leaving everyone with a sweet and sour taste in their mouths, but that is quickly taken care of, when Leon and Lina cheer "**WE GET TO SEE THEM EACH AND EVERY WINTER! IT WORKED, IT REALLY WORKED!**"

It may not have been a one-hundred percent success, but for those two echoes, who shouldn't even have a life, what little they gained is more than enough.

The thought alone fills the many hearts there with some unexplainable warmth, and even Patchouli's pride is put at ease because of it.

* * *

A few minutes after everyone settles down, Ail, who is still flying above the clearing, feeling he's doing so as a precaution, is just about to cancel his Yozoragan blood limit, when a pale woman's hand grips his shoulder and says "please don't. My Lady wishes to see you like that for a little while longer."

The surprisingly calm boy turns his head slightly to the right to look at Sakuya in the eyes, and asks "Ah, Miss Sakuya, how are Aya and Hatate? Wait, Lady Remilia is awake?"

His face loses all composure as it turns white, then blue, after that familiar voice in that seductive tone says "oh, I am wide awake, gorgeous. Love the wings..."

The dense one turns his terrified face to the left, where Remilia stares with lusty eyes, a wide smile, and fangs bare, while softly saying "...and I am a little bit, heh-heh, hungry."

Ail looks back at the maid, whom only smiles to hide her shame and shrugs, then the boy gulps and says "ok, I understand. She's your mistress after all."

That very second after he stops speaking, he takes off to the sky, going as fast as Aya, making himself look like a purple beam in the sky.

A pink beam chases after him, and shouts "why do you always run? Come on, I'll even bite softly!"

A third beam, this one white and blue with a hint green, flies after the pink beam, and shouts "if you don't want to suffer divine punishment, you will leave that man alone, you fiend!"

The first beam casually says "Sanae~ Hi! I'm so glad you're here!" then cries "please help me!"

The second beam desperately says "but I've run out of your DELICIOUS blood! And those wings! Ooh~ I wanna touch them! LET ME TOUCH THEM!"

The third beam angrily declares "stop trying to chase my man, you! He's **MY AIL-KUN!**"

"_Ail, sweetie, it's time._"

Anilan stops the very second he hears Mima's voice inside his mind, his skin loses most of its color, his limbs feel cold, and he slowly turns around with a forced smile to greet the vampire and maiden stopping abruptly behind him.

He notices the small, dark-grey Nitori-brand rockets strapped to Sanae's ankles, chuckles, and nervously says "th-that's a nice trick, honey."

Sanae notices that look on his face, her own face seems to fill with a bit of sadness, but she manages to speak more casual than the boy when she says "um, yeah. I, er, had Nitori prepare these for flying with you, and... I-is it time then?"

Remilia raises an eyebrow while switching from looking at the boy and the girl, then looks at the dragon-winged boy and asks "did I miss something here?"

The shrine maiden flies to her boyfriend's right, while he explains "I'm sorry Lady Remilia, but I have to go now. I have to meet with Miss Yama, and go somewhere for... a while."

"What? Where?" question the vampire, before crossing her arms over her chest, and muttering "jeez, and just when I was having fun."

She is surprised with a large jar of blood presented to her by Ail himself, who smiles to try to hide his frightened heart, and says "here, I had Eirin extract this a while ago. Planned to give it to you as a Christmas gift, but things have changed, so it's yours now."

The vampire stares at that boy as though looking right into his very soul, sighs, calls "Sakuya," then grabs the jar of blood, hands it to her maid, whom appears to her immediate right, and says "please take care of this for me."

"Immediately, my lady," elegantly says the maid as she bows and picks the jar, then disappears from the scene in an instant.

Ail and Sanae look like they are just about to leave, so Remilia quickly asks them to stop, and when they are looking at her, she signals the boy to get closer to her with her claw.

She smiles mischievously as he gets closer, enjoying how easily she's making him more nervous than he already is, then, when he's close enough, she says "I can see your fate shifting again, young man."

She gets closer to him, until her face is just an inch away from his, and with that naughty smile of hers, which seems to be making Sanae very uncomfortable, says "the many paths before you are all hard, but you'll come through just fine. I want you to relax, my friend, and show all those hags the kind of acquaintances Remilia Scarlet has accepted as her allies."

Before Ail can react to those words, she grabs him by the shoulders, pulls him closer, and kisses his forehead, surprising both him and the furious shrine maiden, and after releasing him, in a soft tone, she commands "when you get back, you come back here and tell me all about it."

She waves at the stunned boy and the angry girl, then casually flies back to her mansion, where that delectable blood awaits her.

Sanae flies close to her man, smacks the back of his head to cure him of that stun, and angrily asks "what the hell was that all about, Ail-kun?"

The dense boy rubs the back of his head as he turns his teary eyes and wriggled smile at her, and says "I don't know, but somehow, I feel greatly relieved after hearing that."

The girl grabs him and embraces him tight, notices the hard beats of his heart, how cold his body feels, and how much he's shaking, but before she misunderstands any further, she notices the terror in his eyes, sighs, kisses his cheek, and says "come on, let's go get Budou."

At the mansion's garden, the little bat youkai and her elf fairy are currently to Reimu's right, cheering and clapping while Meiling performs some of her fighting moves to entertain them.

Ail's gap opens up behind her, the boy peeks his head, and whispers "come on Budou-chan. It's time for me to go, so please come with your mama and me to meet Miss Shiki."

The little girl gulps, sighs, turns around to face her papa, then nods and firmly says "ok papa! Let's get you there, so that you finish faster, and come back home even faster!"

The dense one rubs her head when she gets closer to the rift, then looks at the red and white maiden, who nods and whispers "it's ok. Go. If anyone asks, I'll tell them you're exploring caves."

He flips a thumb up at the same time he chuckles, then says "see you later then. Take care," and before she can reply, he's gone.

Reimu is left on her own for just a little bit, until Rika walks over to her, and asks "so, did Ail-nii leave?"

The shrine maiden nods, then smiles and says "yes, he left, but next time we see him, he'll be himself again. No possessions, no adopted personalities to impress Sanae. *Sigh* I'm so glad the Yama intervened with this."

The shrine maid chuckles nervously, and says "my, My Lady, you seem to be excited over this. I-is there something I should know?"

Reimu gives her maid a serene look, sighs again, then says "before he started changing like he did, I once tried to make him mine."

Rika's worried gasp gives her away, but the maiden shakes her head and says "don't worry, I understand now. I won't try that again. I'm just saying, I'm happy I'll get to see that boy again."

The sexy maid remains static as she looks at her mistress, who suddenly says "as happy as it made me when I saw you back to being yourself," then relaxes her body, evident because of her wings, and says "Miss Reimu, you truly are a saint."

* * *

It's an hour past lunch-time when all the remaining guests enter the mansion to eat, by invitation of Remilia herself, of course.

While everyone else chat at the table as they wait for the food to be served, Aya and Hatate sulk together on a corner of the room, depressed over missing the big event, thus the whole story, plus the chance of meeting an interviewing Drake as a god, and his beloved Mina.

Rika sits between her mistress and Tenshi, and seems a little uncomfortable waiting to be served by someone else.

Reimu halts her chat with Marisa, turns to face her maid, and with an endearing smile on her face, says "Rika, dear, if you're this uncomfortable, why don't you just go to the kitchen and help. I'm sure Sakuya won't mind at all."

The maid immediately stands, bows to her lady, says "y-yes! You are right, My Lady! Thank you," then turns to face the celestial, and says "please excuse me Momoko! I'll be back in a bit."

The blue-haired girl looks a bit disappointed, but smiles and says "jeez, you can never stay put. Alright, I'll save your seat."

When the shrine's maid enters the kitchen, she finds Patchouli sitting next to the counters, resting her head on it and sighing repeatedly.

Leon and Lina have each taken a side around the witch, and each seems to be trying to get her to move, but she just lies there, letting her hands hang under the table while she stares at the cabinets above Sakuya's head.

"Come on my love, cheer up! We get one more year, and you get to see us every winter," insists the boy while jumping in front of her eyes and waving his hands.

Lina pokes her hip as annoyingly hard as she can, while angrily saying "stop moping already! Even my cute pet has cheered up, so cheer up!"

Rika continues walking toward the mansion's chief maid, and when in earshot, asks "do you think she'll ever recover?"

"Miss Rika," exclaims the surprised maid after finally noticing the guest in the kitchen.

Sakuya scowls, drops some of Ail's blood on Remilia's stake, and says "I know why you're here, but guests are not allowed to be in the kitchen, so please go to the table, and wait properly!"

The shrine's maid twitches, then suddenly claps her hands together to the right of her head, tilts her head until her cheeks are resting on those hands, stretches her wings and flaps them rapidly while glancing sadly upward at that mansion's maid, then coos "I just want to help. Pleeeeeaaaase~"

The defeated silver-haired girl's eyes glow blue with intensity as small streams of blood shoot out of her nose, and in an instant, she appears before Rika, smiling after plugging her nose with pieces of paper, and says "alright, y-you can help!"

The winged girl cheers with delight, holds her hands in front of her chest, and thinks "_wow, I didn't think that would work so well!_"

She gives a hesitant look at the silver-haired girl, and says "um, actually, I wanted to ask you something."

The chief maid nods, and casually says "go ahead."

Rika sighs, looks to the dining room's door, and says "I have been such a nuisance to my Lady Reimu, and I wish to make up for it, so I was wondering if you could tell me how to contact Miss Nitori. I have heard you know where to find her, so I was just wondering if you could-"

Sakuya grins, giggles at Rika's hesitance, then says "yes, of course, I can help you. It's easy, really. Just go to the river at the Youkai Forest, head to the edge of the river nearest to the foot of the mountain, and there you should find a red button on a yellow box that summons Julia. The rest plays out for itself. And between you an me, I've already gone there with Miss Remilia several times."

The angelic maid notices something odd about the time manipulator's blushing face, and nervously says "um, no, er, I mean, what I mean is that I wish to speak to Miss Nitori directly. She should be able to get my lady a nice room and all."

The chief maid still smiles, though not as excitedly as before, as she says "oh, then that's even easier. Just ask Aya before you leave. They've been working together a lot these days, though I'm not sure why..."

At that very moment, before she can react to that comment, the sexy angelic maid raises her arms to catch Leon and Lina before they smash against the wall, while from the counter, Patchouli shouts "it was supposed to work! I enhanced that stone and raised our chance of success to eighty-eight percent! You two should be elemental youkai by now, not summons!"

The two maids look at each other and sigh, Rika places the twins on the ground, then asks "why don't you two do the same thing you did for me? She needs your help, you know."

The Kori girl looks at her brother, smiles, and says "ooh, I like her. She's smart."

The Kori boy nods and says "yup! I told you. We forgot about that, but she didn't," then both quickly run back to the moping magician, hold hands behind her, then embrace her from both sides.

She's just about to chuck them both again, but quickly finds her anger subsiding fast, and instead of moping on the countertop, she smiles blissfully as she lets her relaxed body hang.

Rika takes the chance to get closer, and says "so glad you calmed down. Miss Patchouli, Drake told you that achieving that goal was hard. He tried getting help for you from other gods, but they couldn't. You were asking too much, even though he didn't admit that."

She gets a glance from the relaxed librarian, and continues "you see, as cruel as this may sound, and honestly, I didn't understand at first, these two children weren't supposed to **be**, and yet here they are. But before you lose all your confidence, think about this..."

She grabs the magician's face and pulls her up so they can see eye-to-eye, and softly says "thanks to your efforts, these children will live with you for one more year, and after that, each and every winter, you'll get to see them and share your time with them."

Rika can see the fact reaches Patchouli quickly, and can't help but smile as she says "you see? You are no failure. Your spell did not fail. It only worked differently from what you intended, but it all still worked out for the best in the end."

By now, the Kori twins have released the sexy librarian, so she's feeling stronger, and thanks to the angel maid's words, smiles as optimistic thoughts fill her.

The magician stands up from the uncomfortable, round wooden chair, wraps her arms around the twins' necks and squeezes them against her chest, with neither minding the soft sensation at all, and says "yes, she's right. I-it didn't work like I planned, but I promise you two, I will figure out what went wrong, and we'll try again. We have time now! We can do this more calmly."

Leon and Lina, even with their faces buried in those soft cushions manage to flip a thumb up each to the shrine maid, then Sakuya approaches said girl, places a hand on her shoulder, and happily says "thanks. She would have been in a really foul mood for weeks if you hadn't talked to her."

The ample-chested maid giggles and nods, then, from the door, one of the fairy maids with long brown hair tied to a ponytail, breaks through and desperately says "Miss Sakuya, Miss Sakuya! The mistress is hungry! She's losing her patience!"

From the dining room, Remilia's sweet and dangerous voice causes the entire mansion to rumble when she shouts "**where is my FOOD? I AM HUNGRY!**"

The three maids in the room twitch with fright when Flandre's voice joins her sister's, demanding "if I don't see my plate here in thirty seconds, I'm ripping onee-sama's wings off!"

The mistress screams, and the three maids quickly set three carts with the food, and immediately rush outside, followed by Patchouli and the Kori twins, who happily make their merry way back to the dining room to join the guests.

* * *

Meanwhile, moments before Rika and the twins work their magic on Patchouli, there is a small reunion in a magical room, hidden between dimensions, where Ail waits to be taken away to that alternate world.

Behind him, Satori and Orin stand side-by-side behind Sanae and Budou, as they wait along with the boy, keeping him company during such a tense moment.

Standing in front of the group are Mima, Yukari and Shikieiki, and although the evil spirit has her usual mischievous face, the gap youkai shares a sympathetic gaze along with the Yama.

The room they currently are in looks like an endless ball room of white floors, ivory columns, a beautiful misty and soft floor, a pure white ceiling, and doors, doors, and more doors covering the walls, all painted in different tones of white, and the one behind the blonde and green-haired girls looks like it has a light hint of sky blue on it.

Mima approaches the dense one, and when she looks at that stiff, scared stare on the boy, her face becomes soft and motherly, and knowing she's unable to hide her compassion any longer, she freely rubs his head and says "I know you are about sixty percent yourself in there, so this is kind of hard, even for us. So, um..."

She looks away to hide the tears under her eyes, and mutters to herself "jeez, I'm a spirit. Hold it together, Mima," flicks those tears from her eyes, and turns around with a more friendly smile and finishes "so just go in there and return to being one hundred percent yourself again!"

The boy smiles and chuckles softly, relaxing a bit. He bows his head with respect toward Mima, showing his gratitude for her concern, then turns around to face what few loved ones were allowed to come with him.

He gives them all a pained smile, and says "well, I'm going you guys. So, erm, please take care while I'm gone... and, um, thank you for coming here with me."

He walks over to Orin, gives her a light pat on the head she seems to enjoy immensely, then the kasha suddenly jumps and hugs him, and says "you come back again bro! When you do, let's have another race, like we used to!"

Ail chuckles as she releases him, and replies "alright, but don't get sore when I beat you this time."

She laughs with pride, expands her generously bouncy chest and bumps her fist against it, then proudly says "you can say that to my tails when you reach the goal, slowpoke!"

He rubs her head one more time as he chuckles softly, then turns to Satori, and says "you already read my mind, so I'm just saying it so you don't seem left out. Take care, my friend. When I come back, let's have a chat over tea and sweets, like before."

She smiles at him as they are both driven to give each other a light hug, and while holding him gently, she says "if things keep going as they are, we'll have that chat with Koishi joining us."

They push each other away, Ail smiling widely, while Satori's smile remains as light as ever, then the boy nods and says "looking forward to that, but how can you be so sure?"

The mind-reader's smile becomes slightly wider, and a little more mischievous, as she says "she's taking great interest in characters like you and Miss Rika. That is all I will say in the matter."

He salutes the purple haired girl as he steps back, then turns right to meet the most important people in his life.

Sanae and Budou stand side-by-side, and both seem about just ready to start crying, but neither does, and manage to smile at the boy.

Ail simply raises his arms to chest height, and both girls throw each other on him, giving him a tight hug from both sides.

The little bat sobs and cries "please hurry up, papa! I hate it when you go away for too long!"

Sanae sighs, turns her head, kisses his cheek, he manages to pull his head back to sneak a kiss on her lips, then the giggling maiden says "when you return, I'm tying you up to the couch and snuggle you all day."

She giggles playfully after seeing his cheeks turn bright red, then says "there, a good motivation to come back faster, given to you by a miraculous god. Be grateful~"

He grins goofily as he steps away, rubs both bat and maiden's heads, then Phredia jumps right out of Budou's heart, grabs and kisses the surprised boy's nose, then slowly flutters backward to the bat youkai's head, and bows her head slightly.

Ail smiles, bows his head to her, then Yukari abruptly commands "I'm sorry, but it's time, so please cut the mushy stuff."

The boy turns to face the blonde, surprising her with his serene smile, nods, and says "a-alright then."

He waves his friends goodbye one more time, and with a frightened smile taking his face, he moves toward the door.

Shikieiki feels uncomfortable seeing him like that, and loudly says "please, this isn't a goodbye. Ail, I promise you, you will not be in there for too long. You have come a long way by yourself already, and this is meant to help you expedite that process, and take it further."

She looks at the others present in the room, notices how even Mima looks concerned, and says "everyone, do not be burdened by this. He will be alright and back with you all soon. No real harm will come to him, I promise."

With those words, she opens the door to the next room, which looks like a field of soft grass and several beds made of actual flowers, places a hand on Ail's shoulder for support, and softly says "come on. Let's get you ready."

Yukari waves a playful hand, opens three gaps, and says "you may go home, knowing that friend of yours, and mine, is going to be alright."

She immediately follows into the room, and closes the door behind her, leaving the group to stare at each other.

Before each group heads their separate ways, Mima clears her throat loudly, then says "they gave me their words that they will take good care of him, and also..."

She looks at each of them in the eyes, stops at Phredia, then sight and says "he'll be alright. He'll come through."

Meanwhile, inside the room, Yukari lets herself loose, and is currently holding the boy between her arms as though she was his mother, saying "you be good now! Don't do anything naughty in there! Clean your underwear every day, brush your teeth, and come back to us as that sweet, wise child I miss so much!"

Ail grunts as he tries to break free from her embrace, getting embarrassed when he takes notice of her womanly cushions pressed against his chest, and then he's suddenly free to breathe again.

He takes all the breaths necessary to recover, gulps to hide his embarrassment, and says "r-right. Heh, thank you Miss Yukari. And don't worry, I promise, I will not fail."

"Good," says Shikieiki, getting both of their attentions, then points to the bed of flowers behind her, and continues "then, my friend, it's time you went inside."

* * *

That winter in Gensokyo comes and goes quite slowly for some, while for others, it was just too fast, and already it is a beautiful and warm spring.

Lily White is flying over the massive field of flowers at the Garden of the Sun, taking great interest in the winter flowers she sees for the first time, still blossoming amongst some summer flowers, as well as seasoned spring flowers.

She hovers two feet above the varied flowerbed, stares with great interest at the amazing variety before her, and asks herself "but it's spring? How can these be here?"

She yelps with fright and flies away when a massive explosion creates a large crater on the ground before the bed of flowers.

When she's far enough, she looks back at the green haired woman fighting with a brown haired woman in their underwear, and notices how happy the two look as they open holes on their bodies with their own speared hands.

Yuka's face is covered with her own blood, yet she smiles as she pulls her opponent's hand from inside her shoulder, and happily says "nice trick. Let me show you mine."

Ayalina's arms and chest are covered with blood, her underwear is as stained with blood and dirt as the other woman's, but seems quite happy either way.

She grunts when she takes Yuka's punch straight on the left cheek, then said flower youkai stops attacking, stares estranged at the brown-haired woman, and asks "hey, is everything ok? I haven't hit you that hard yet, have I?"

The young-looking mother looks away, completely ignoring the throbbing on her face as she stares to the distance, then smiles, looks at her sparring partner, and says "I'm sorry, but my boy is back. We'll have to finish this some other time."

The green-haired beauty stretches her arms above her head as she moans contently, then says "it's alright. I want to see him too, you know."

They smile at each other, suddenly throw a hand over each other's shoulders, then laugh happily as they head over to the near-by river to wash up.

Kurumi and Elly watch with disgust from a safe distance, then the vampire sighs and says "I don't know what's more annoying. Those divine spirits that were all over the place the other day, or these two and their friendship."

The curly-haired girl smiles with fright evident on her face, and says "c-careful what you are saying! They might hear you!"

From the distance, Ayalina and Yuka say "**yes, we heard that,**" causing the poor blonde vampire to shiver with fright as she sees her window of a hopeful escape closing right before her very eyes.

Meanwhile, Lily reaches Ail's house at the Forest of Magic, and spots Budou and Sanae exiting said house and closing the door.

She dives straight at them, lands on the grass in front of them, causing some flowers to bloom, then exclaims "it's spring! Tell Ail!"

The bat youkai sight with frustration, and understandably annoyed, shouts "listen you stupid fairy! Papa is not back yet, so stop-*GASP*"

The blond fairy quickly turns around when she notices those surprised looks on the maiden and the youkai girl, then gasps when she sees Ail standing being her.

He looks a little pale, is shaking a lot, and seems to be disoriented, but other than that, he looks just fine, though seems to not notice Sanae asking him "Ail-kun, sweetheart, are you alright? What happened?"

The girls quickly rush in front of him, and Phredia jumps right out of Budou's heart to greet him, but before any of them can say another word to the boy, he drops on his knees, wraps both arms around all the girls, and repeats "It's me! I'm back! It's me! I'm back!"

At that very moment, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library, Patchouli sits behind her desk, reading carefully at the book before her.

Besides the book, she has Leon's summoning spell card, stares at it and caresses it with her fingers, then quickly turns back to her book with more determination in her eyes.

To her right is Koakuma, holding Lina's summoning spell card, touches the frame around the picture on it, and sighs softly before saying "I know the mistress means well by keeping them away for prolonged periods, but I can't help but miss them when she does."

Flandre appears behind them, as if born from the shadows, and loudly says "hey! Onee-sama wants you at the gathering room! Ail's back and she wants us all to greet him when he gets here," causing both librarians to yelp and jump in place.

Before the expected shouting can occur, the blonde vampire raises an eyebrow and places her hands on her hips, then says "moping again, are we? Jeez, you should be a little happier! They are still running around here for a whole 'nother year, AND you get to see them every winter! Cheer up already!"

"We're fine," spits Patchouli, holding the edge of her desk to stand straight, then glares at the girl and says "we're just studying DILIGENTLY, so that we may find a way to make their stay more permanent!"

The unamused vampire stare flatly at the magician and the devil, who nervously waves back, and mumbles "uh-huh. Studying..."

She moves like a blur behind Patchouli, grabs her hidden breasts, and as she fondle the screaming magician, she says "don't worry! While Leon's gone, I'll come here and molest you EVERY day to make it look like he's here, alright!"

"PUT! ME! DO-HAAOWN!"

While Flandre molests the librarian further, she fails to notice the black, three-tailed nekomata glaring straight at her from the shadow of one of the bookshelves.

He growls softly as his glowing yellow eyes reflect the vampire, and draws his claws on his right paw as he hisses softly at her.

The cat screeches when suddenly, from the wall next to the bookshelf, a woman with blue eyes, and blue hair tied in Chinese loops, held by a large golden hair stick, pokes her head out of said wall and casually asks "hey, little kitty, this wouldn't be the Moriya Shrine by any chance, would it?"

* * *

Icicle Sukima, The End!

Characters, spell cards and scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-

Special appearance by Seiga Kaku

Ail, Budou, Phredia, Ayalina, Drake Starstriker, Mina Estrella, Leon of Kori, Lina of Kori and Kimi Hong were created by Willie G.R.

Rika Onkamikami and Suzaku the Vermillion Bird were created by Snapshot 2010

JAN 18, 2012

Written by

Willie G.R.

* * *

**A/N:**

**And so, Icicle Sukima comes to an end, leaving you with a quick preview of what MAY (or may not?) come to happen in Reset Sukima. Chances are they will :).**

**Nothing much left to say but: I hope you enjoyed this story, and hope you'll join me when I start with Reset Sukima. But here's this thing. I'm gonna try to refrain from writing two fics at the same time again, so maybe it will be a while before I start with Reset, seeing as I still have Undying Gensokyo to finish, and AFTER that, I'll start working on the crossover, Spell Cards and Keyblades again. Suwako knows I've left that fic on hold for FAR TOO LONG! Ah well, no more babbling from me. Hope you liked that little peek by Seiga XD. Take care!**


End file.
